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Blueprint (BPMC) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat, Stock Rises

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Blueprint Medicines Corporation (BPMC - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted loss of $1.32 per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.64 and the year-ago quarter’s loss of $2.15. On a reported basis, the company recorded earnings of $1.40 per share in the first quarter upon recognizing a one-time income of debt extinguishment gain, amounting to $174.9 million.

Quarterly revenues of $96.1 million also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $82.6 million. Total revenues jumped 51.9% year over year.

The stock rose 12.8% in the last trading session on May 2, and continued to gain another 2.8% in the after-market hours, as the investors cheered the earnings and revenue beat on the back of the strong performance of its marketed product. Year to date, Blueprint has gained 16% against the industry’s decline of 8.8%.

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Quarter in Detail

Blueprint’s total revenues comprise net product revenues from Ayvakit/Ayvakyt and collaboration revenues.

Ayvakit (avapritinib), an inhibitor of KIT and PDGFRA proteins, is approved for treating PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant gastrointestinal stromal tumors and advanced and indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM).

In the first quarter, net product revenues from Ayvakit were $92.5 million, which grew 30.3% on a sequential basis and 136.8% on a year-over-year basis, driven by new patient starts, low discontinuation rates and a high compliance rate. Out of the total revenues generated from Ayvakit sales, $83.1 million came from the U.S. sales of the drug and $9.4 million in ex-U.S. sales.

The label expansion of Ayvakit/Ayvakyt in 2023 to treat ISM in adults in the United States and EU increased the eligible patient population of the drug, which has been driving robust growth in sales. ISM disease is chronic, due to which patients stay on therapy for longer durations. ISM comprises about 95% of all patients with SM.

Ayvakit is the first and only therapy approved for treating ISM. It has the potential to become a multibillion-dollar product and drive durable revenue growth for Blueprint for the next few years.

Collaboration revenues totaled $3.6 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.4 million. BPMC recognizes collaboration revenues from an agreement with CStone Pharmaceutical.

Another drug of Blueprint, Gavreto (pralsetinib), is approved for metastatic rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer and RET-mutant and RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer.

The company used to co-develop Gavreto with Roche. However, in February 2023, Roche announced its decision to discontinue the collaboration agreement. Blueprint has regained the global commercial rights to Gavreto, since late February 2024. It did not record any net product revenues from Gavreto sales in the reported quarter.

During the first-quarter earnings release, BPMC announced that Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is set to purchase the U.S. rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize Gavreto, which ensures continuity of patient access to Gavreto in the United States.

Research and development (R&D) expenses totaled $88.2 million, down 21.3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The primary reason behind the decrease in R&D expenses was continued operational efficiency gains across Blueprint’s portfolio, along with favorable timing of manufacturing of clinical study materials.

Selling, general and administrative expenses amounted to $83.6 million, up 17.7% year over year. The uptick in such expenses was due to higher compensation and headcount costs related to the commercialization of Ayvakit/Ayvakyt.

Blueprint had cash, cash equivalents and investments worth $735.6 million as of Mar 31, 2024, compared with $767.2 million as of Dec 31, 2023.

2024 Outlook Raised

Based on the strong first-quarter performance, Blueprint now expects to generate approximately $390 million to $410 million in global Ayvakit net product revenues for all approved indications in 2024 compared with the previous guidance of $360-$390 million. The projection represents impressive growth of 96% at the midpoint, driven mainly by the ISM indication.

The company believes that Ayvakit has a peak sales opportunity of $2 billion. It does not expect any material collaboration revenues from existing partnerships in 2024.

Operating expenses and cash burn are expected to further decline in 2024.

Zacks Rank and Other Stocks to Consider

Blueprint currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks from the drug/biotech industry are Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND - Free Report) , ANI Pharmaceuticals (ANIP - Free Report) and Annovis Bio (ANVS - Free Report) . While LGND and ANIP sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, ANVS carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ligand’s 2024 earnings per share (EPS) has remained constant at $4.56. During the same time frame, the estimate for Ligand’s 2025 EPS has remained constant at $5.27. Year to date, shares of LGND have risen 1.3%.

Ligand beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 84.81%.

In the past 30 days, estimates for ANI Pharmaceuticals’ 2024 earnings per share have risen from $4.43 to $4.44. Meanwhile, the estimate for ANI Pharmaceuticals’ 2025 earnings per share has remained constant at $5.04. Year to date, shares of ANIP have risen 21.7%.

ANI Pharmaceuticals beat on earnings in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 109.06%.

In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Annovis’ 2024 loss per share has narrowed from $3.35 to $2.93. During the same period, the estimate for Annovis’ 2025 loss per share has widened from $2.82 to $2.83. Year to date, shares of ANVS have plunged 70.9%.

ANVS beat on earnings in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average negative surprise of 15.70%.

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