Here we go!!
Ahead of the Bell: Cubist Pharma Rises
Thursday July 19, 8:59 am ET
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Up After 2nd-Quarter Profit and Sales Beat Analyst Estimates
NEW YORK (AP) -- Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares jumped in premarket electronic trading Thursday after the biotechnology company reported a larger profit than analysts expected on improving sales of its antibiotic Cubicin.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Lexington, Mass., company swung to a profit for the quarter, earning 24 cents per share on $69.8 million in revenue. Sales grew 46 percent from the second quarter of 2006.
Analysts had expected a profit of 16 cents per share on $65.1 million in sales.
Jefferies & Co. analyst Eun K. Yang reiterated a "Buy" rating on the stock. Yang's price target of $31 per share implies the stock price will rise 55.1 percent over the next year.
She said Cubist raised its Cubicin sales forecast for the rest of the year, predicting sales in the range of $265 million to $280 million, up from $255 million to $275 million. Cubicin sales totaled $69.5 million in the second quarter, accounting for almost all of the company's revenue.
Yang thinks sales will keep growing, exceeding $500 million in the U.S. in 2010 or 2011.
Lazard Capital Markets analyst Joel Sendek upgraded the stock to "Hold" from "Sell" on Thursday.
The stock gained $2.76, or 13.8 percent, to $22.75 premarket, up from Wednesday's closing price of $19.99.
