Friday, May 6, 2022
Cantor Fitzgerald Weighs in on Axsome’s FY2022 Earnings (NASDAQ:AXSM)
Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their FY2022 EPS estimates for shares of Axsome Therapeutics in a report issued on Tuesday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Duncan now expects that the company will earn ($4.13) per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of ($3.69).
White House 'preps for cold-weather wave of 100M COVID infections'
The White House is preparing for as many as 100 million Americans to get infected with COVID-19 during a wave this fall and winter if Congress does not provide new funding for vaccines and tests, a senior administration official said Friday, warning new money is needed to have enough vaccines for everyone.
A senior administration official told a small group of reporters on Friday that the estimate is the median of a range of models from outside experts that the administration consults, meaning it is also possible significantly more Americans catch the virus, especially if there is a major new variant.
That compares with the roughly 130-140 million Americans who are estimated to have been infected over the omicron wave this winter, which led to a significant spike in deaths.
The administration argues the number of cases could be lower if new funding allows for many Americans to get updated vaccines this fall and for testing to be plentiful.
The Biden administration argues the new wave is not a cause for panic, given there are new tools like the highly-effective Pfizer pill known as Paxlovid, as well as vaccinations.
But officials are trying to sound the drumbeat that they need new funding from Congress in order to have those tools available during the wave coming later this year.
Pfizer and Moderna are working on new versions of the vaccine aimed at being more effective against the newer mutations of the virus. The so-called bivalent vaccine would target the omicron variant as well as the original strain.
Those new vaccines are expected to be ready by the fall, but the U.S. will not have enough money to purchase them for all Americans unless Congress provides new funding, the administration says.
The senior administration official said the contingency plan if Congress does not provide new money is to take all funding out of testing, new treatments and vaccine education and outreach, and try to pile it up to have enough to maybe be able buy enough updated vaccines only for the elderly.
Without new money, supplies of Paxlovid are expected to run out by October or November, the official said, meaning if people got the virus in a wave over the holidays the treatment would not be available.
Despite repeated calls from the administration, new COVID-19 funding remains stalled in Congress amid Republican resistance. Republicans are demanding a vote to stop the administration’s lifting of pandemic-era restrictions at the southern border, known as Title 42, which is also politically dicey for Democrats given that some of their moderate members also oppose lifting the measure.
It is possible the COVID-19 funding could get a lift by being attached to new Ukraine aid moving through Congress, but Democratic leaders have not yet made clear if they intend to do that, with the GOP warning against the move.
The White House has asked for $22.5 billion, though lawmakers have eyed a smaller amount, $10 billion, which the parties were able to figure out a way to pay for.
Other countries are also eager to purchase more treatments and updated vaccines, the official said, meaning if the U.S. tries to wait until the fall to buy them, there are unlikely to be supplies available until months later.
A shortage of rapid tests was also a widespread problem over the omicron wave this winter. The official warned Friday that testing companies are now looking to lay off workers and would not have enough supply for a fall wave, unless the government steps in with new funding.
Robert W. Baird Increases McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Price Target to $380.00
McKesson (NYSE:MCK – Get Rating) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from $352.00 to $380.00 in a research report issued on Friday, The Fly reports. Robert W. Baird’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.55% from the stock’s previous close.
Raymond James maintains Strong Buy on ChemoCentryx
ChemoCentryx Inc
(Get Free Alerts for CCXI) shares are trading higher by 21.45% at $19.00 after the company reported first-quarter results.ChemoCentryx reported quarterly losses of 55 cents per share which missed the analyst consensus estimate of a loss of 30 cents. The company also reported quarterly sales of $5.46 million which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $22.04 million.
Raymond James analyst Steven Seedhouse maintained ChemoCentryx Friday morning with a Strong Buy and lowered the price target from $110 to $106.
https://www.benzinga.com/news/small-cap/22/05/27049457/why-chemocentryx-shares-are-popping-off
Why iRhythm Technologies Is Making A 20% Jump
iRhythm Technologies (IRTC) won a pair of lucrative reimbursement codes from Medicare, leading IRTC stock to rocket early Friday.
Specifically, the Chicago-area Medicare Administrative Contractor increased how much it will pay for two of iRhythm's wearable heart-monitoring devices. In response, iRhythm boosted its 2022 revenue expectations by $10 million.
"We believe iRhythm has a durable revenue growth profile with a visible path to profitability," Needham analyst David Saxon said in a report to clients.
In premarket trading on today's stock market, IRTC stock surged 21.9% near 144.
IRTC Stock: Sales Beat, Though Losses Grow
iRhythm makes wearable devices that monitor for irregular heart rhythms. It combines a medical device worn for up to two weeks with cloud-based data analytics. And, in the first quarter, Saxon says the company showed "underlying strength."
Sales popped more than 24% to $92.4 million and easily beat views for $86.8 million, according to FactSet. The company reported deeper-than-expected losses, however, at $1.71 per share. Analysts called for $1.10 and, in the year-earlier quarter, iRhythm reported a smaller 95-cent per-share loss.
For the year, iRhythm now expects $410 million to $420 million in sales — raising both the top and bottom ends of the outlook by $10 million. IRTC stock analysts currently call for $417.3 million in sales.
The Chicago shift is an unexpected boon. Two of iRhythm's devices will receive reimbursements of $329 and $342. The same devices in Houston only receive $223 and $233. As a result, iRhythm will likely focus on processing a higher number of Medicare volumes in Chicago, Saxon said.
He kept his buy rating on IRTC stock.