Biogen stock was muted Thursday after the biotech company beat Wall Street's first-quarter expectations, including strong sales for newcomer drugs Leqembi and Skyclarys.
Leqembi, which partner Eisai records, generated $96 million in sales, continuing a trend of sequential growth. Skyclarys brought in $124 million in sales, growing almost 59% year over year. Biogen acquired the Friedreich's ataxia drug in the 2023 takeover of Reata Pharmaceuticals.
Neither drug belongs to Biogen's multiple sclerosis franchise. The division is Biogen's biggest, but is under pressure from generic rivals. Sales skidded 11% to $953 million. In constant currency, multiple sclerosis drug sales fell 10%. Still, sales of key MS drugs Tysabri and Tecfidera beat expectations.
Tysabri and Tecfidera's holding up is "reassuring in our view in light of expected declines over time for these franchises," RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said in a report. He noted it's "unclear if there were specific inventory effects contributing."
Biogen stock was flat at 121.05 in premarket action. Shares fell below their 50-day moving average in mid-March.
Biogen Stock: Sales, Earnings Beat
Across all products, sales climbed 6% — or 8% in constant currency — to $2.43 billion. That beat expectations for $2.23 billion, according to FactSet. Biogen earned an adjusted $3.02 per share. Though earnings sank 18% year over year, they topped the Street's forecast for $2.92.
The best growth came from Biogen's rare diseases portfolio, which surged 33% to $563 million. That division includes Skyclarys and spinal muscular atrophy drug Spinraza. Spinraza sales jumped more than 24% to $424 million, handily above projections for $361 million.
Biosimilar sales, though, slipped north of 8% to almost $181 million.
Still, Abrahams kept his outperform rating and 217 price target on Biogen stock, questioning whether this is "the start of a turnaround."
'Significant' Manufacturing In The U.S.
For the year, Biogen cut its earnings expectations to $14.50 to $15.50 per share, minus some items.
That includes a 95-cent hit due to a recently inked collaboration deal with Stoke Therapeutics to develop a treatment for a rare form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome. As part of that deal, Biogen will pay Stoke $165 million up front. The midpoint of Biogen's earnings guidance missed analysts' call for $15.21.
Biogen also expects full-year sales to decline by a mid single-digit percentage, excluding the impact of exchange rates. The company noted it doesn't expects tariffs to have an outsized impact on its financial metrics. The company has a "significant manufacturing presence in the U.S.," Viehbacher said.
"Roughly 75% of our 2024 U.S. product revenues were generated by products which have manufacturing operations in the U.S.," he said. "In addition, Biogen pays substantial taxes in the U.S. since our U.S. market revenues are almost entirely taxable in the U.S. at Federal and state tax rates."
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