Vertex Outlines 2012 Sales Expectations (VRTX)

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is trading lower after earnings, but this may be due more to a give back from big gains this week and it may be a headline issue.  The first headline that hit the tape was earnings at $0.74 EPS, but its adjusted earnings came to $0.86 EPS against the Thomson Reuters estimate of $0.70 EPS.  Total revenue was $563.3 million, and INCIVEK net product revenue was $456.8.  Thomson Reuters was expecting $518.36 million in total revenue.

For 2012, Vertex Pharmaceuticals gave an indication of INCIVEK net revenues in a range of $1.5 to $1.7 billion.  The company also ended the last quarter and year with liquidity of $968.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities.

Vertex closed up 1.5% at $38.38 today and the after-hours reaction is already not quite as bad as originally seen.  Shares are down 0.7% at $38.11 now after having been down almost 3% in the first reaction.  So far we have seen only about 40,000 shares trade in the after-hours session and that is not representative of much conviction from traders.  The 52-week trading range is $26.50 to $58.87.