One time when missing earnings estimates doesn’t matter much is when there is bidding war for the company. That’s the position that Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) found itself in after reported a substantial earnings miss after markets closed last Thursday.
The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.11, less than half the consensus estimate of $0.23. Shares rose anyway, up 1.3% by Friday’s close at $60.
Medivation has rejected as “opportunistic” a buyout offer valued at around $9.3 billion from Sanofi (NYSE: SNY). That was $52.50 per share, but that almost certainly won’t be enough. Big pharma guns including Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) have also been mentioned as possible bidders. and Medivation may be worth as much as $70 a share to some of Sanofi’s potential challengers.
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Analysts were unanimous in raising price targets though some were a bit more restrained than others:
- Barclays raised its price target from $48 to $70 with an Overweight rating.
- BMO lifted its price target from $47 to $50 and rates the stock Market Perform.
- Jefferies boosted its price target from $52.00 to $56.00 with a Hold rating.
- JMP Securities raised its price target from $56 to $73.
- Leerink upped its price target from $39 to $64.
- RBC lifted its price target from $40 to $70 with a Sector Perform rating.
- Wedbush raised its price target to $63.
Medivation stock closed at $60.00 on Friday, up 1.3% for the day, in a 52-week range of $26.41 to $66.40. The consensus price target is $60.17, although many of these changes may not be included yet. The high target is $76 and the low target is $39.
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