BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $7.55, but opened at $8.20. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $7.8050, with a volume of 1,432,490 shares changing hands.

The biotechnology company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $1.05. The business had revenue of $406.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.32 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 1.46% and a negative return on equity of 4.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 209.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.13) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCRX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore assumed coverage on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Alane P. Barnes sold 91,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.10, for a total transaction of $646,128.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 416,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,954,679.20. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 183,453 shares of company stock valued at $1,330,965 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,452,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 159.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 12,169,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $92,363,000 after buying an additional 7,477,000 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7,807.2% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,404,386 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $57,791,000 after buying an additional 7,310,745 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 2,103.7% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,278,555 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,084,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $24,668,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -158.78 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.39.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, that focuses on the discovery and development of novel, oral small‐molecule medicines for rare and serious diseases. Since its founding in 1986, the company has leveraged structure‐based drug design to advance a pipeline of targeted therapeutics designed to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than just treat symptoms.

The company’s first commercial product, Orladeyo (berotralstat), is an oral kallikrein inhibitor approved for the prophylactic treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) in both the United States and Europe.