BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BCRX) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $9.21, but opened at $8.87. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $8.06, with a volume of 1,452,227 shares.

The biotechnology company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $131.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.05 million. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 40.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCRX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCRX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,890,422 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $164,616,000 after buying an additional 1,583,826 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 1,980,312 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,892,000 after buying an additional 1,444,907 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals by 65,213.3% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 542,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,077,000 after buying an additional 541,270 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,983,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in BioCryst Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,947,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 10.0 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.03 and a 200-day moving average of $7.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -13.59 and a beta of 1.75.

About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, develops oral small-molecule and protein therapeutics to treat rare diseases. The company markets peramivir injection, an intravenous neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza under the RAPIVAB, RAPIACTA, and PERAMIFLU names; and ORLADEYO, an oral serine protease inhibitor to treat hereditary angioedema.