Despite Target Cuts, Analysts Stick With Incyte for Big Upside
After the announcement that its Phase 2 trial of Ruxolitinib would be stopped a few analysts took a deeper look at Incyte and realized that it might not be as bad as initially thought.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) took it on the chin this past week following the announcement that its Phase 2 trial of ruxolitinib would be stopped. This was detrimental to the stock, but a few analysts took a deeper look at it and realized that it might not be as bad as initially thought.
On Wednesday, the company announced that the Phase 2 sub-study of ruxolitinib or placebo in combination with regorafenib in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic colorectal cancer and high C-reactive protein (CRP) will be stopped early.
The decision to stop the sub-study was made after a planned interim analysis of the high CRP subgroup demonstrated that ruxolitinib plus regorafenib did not show a sufficient level of efficacy to warrant continuation.
As a result, shares initially dropped as low as 14% off this level, pushing a new 52-week low. However after analysts came to bat for this biotech, shares made a healthy bounce in Friday’s trading session.
[recirclink id=311419]
A few analysts weighed in on Incyte:
- Merrill Lynch maintained a Buy rating but cut its price target to $87 from $145.
- Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $102 from $110.
- Jefferies has a Buy rating but cut its price target to $106 from $141.
- JMP Securities has an Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $100 from $133.
- JPMorgan has an Overweight rating and lowered its price target to $115 from $125.
- Leerink has an Outperform rating and cut its price target to $118 from $135.
- UBS has a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $110 from $135.
Shares of Incyte were trading at $70.56 on Friday’s close, with a consensus analyst price target of $116.77 (this may change) and a 52-week trading range of $64.51 to $133.62.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
