Biogen Swings to Loss, Logs Higher Sales

What happened

Biogen swung to a quarterly loss of $20.6 million, or 14 cents a share, from a $466.5 million profit a year earlier, mainly due to transaction-related charges, while revenue rose 11% to $2.8 billion.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

The loss came mostly from one-time charges, including $284 million in acquired in-process research and development, which means bought early-stage drug work. Adjusted earnings of $2.62 a share beat the $1.99 analysts expected, while sales also topped forecasts.

Analyst inference

Spinraza led growth, with revenue up 23% to $461 million, and the Apellis acquisition added sales but also raised commercial and management costs. Biogen narrowed full-year earnings per share guidance to $12.20 to $13 from $12 to $13.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Biogen narrowed its full-year earnings per share outlook to a range of $12.20 to $13, compared with $12 to $13 previously, so future results should be judged against that updated range. Confirmed
2. Watch whether Spinraza keeps growing at its recent pace, since a slowdown there would remove the main sales driver behind the quarter's revenue growth. Proposed
3. Watch commercial and management spending tied to Apellis, because those higher costs contributed to the loss and could keep pressuring profit if they persist. Analyst inference

Evidence

• Original source link unavailable