Argenx stock tumbled Thursday after the company's autoimmune disease drug, Vyvgart, beat first-quarter sales forecasts — but not by enough.
Vyvgart treats generalized myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune condition that causes muscle weakness and fatigue. But the Food and Drug Administration also recently approved Vyvgart for patients with CIDP, or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. In this condition, the body attacks the myelin sheaths covering nerves.
During the first quarter, Vyvgart generated $790 million in sales. That topped projections for $787 million, according to FactSet.
But Argenx stock skidded 8.6%, closing at 569.12. Shares undercut their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, MarketSurge shows.
This is "likely due to high investor expectations around the CIDP indication launch," William Blair analyst Myles Minter said in a client note. "We view this reaction as overblown given Vyvgart has sequentially grown every quarter since launch, including 7% quarter-over-quarter growth here despite first-quarter seasonality headwinds."
Argenx Stock: Expanding Vyvgart's Reach
Management indicated Vyvgart is growing across all regions and products. The company sells Vyvgart as an intravenous infusion and an under-the-skin shot. It also recently won approval for a prefilled syringe that patients can administer themselves at home.
Vyvgart sales grew more than 98% year over year.
"We see Vyvgart's strong YoY growth in a seasonally challenged 1Q as reflecting continued solid demand and momentum and look forward to more color on the call regarding CIDP launch dynamics and prefilled syringe rollout," Leerink Partners analyst Thomas Smith said in a note.
He has an outperform rating on Argenx stock. But the drop below the 50-day and 200-day lines makes a breakout much less likely.
Shares are consolidating with a buy point at 678.21.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X/Twitter at @AGatlin_IBD.
