Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
It has been an interesting 48 hours for Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR). Yesterday in an SEC filing the company reported blockbuster sales of it’s sole drug Acthar. The stock surged. Today, mid-day, Citron Research (a noted short seller) issued a stinging report on the company that was very similar to the attack by another website back in January of this year. That attack dropped the stock from the low $40s to the mid $30s instantly, and we had a similar reaction today. The timing was excellent since I believe the company is not allowed to respond to the “allegations” (which are things such as there will be a generic drug coming down the pike someday to compete with Acthar) as it is in a quiet period ahead of earnings. That said they are at a conference this Friday so should be interesting, although they will probably repeat the exact same defense they rolled out 6 months ago.
Can’t win for losing on this one – a day after reporting this type of data the company gets blasted.
- The company estimated it sold 400 to 410 paid prescriptions for the leading indication, multiple sclerosis, up at least 50% from June 2011. Anti-nephrotic syndrome prescriptions, which Questcor started actively marketing last year, jumped more than fivefold to 115 to 120.
- Jefferies analyst Biren Amin raised his Q2 revenue estimate to $111 million from $100 million, more than double the year-ago quarter. He accordingly added 10 cents to his EPS estimate, now 64 cents. That would be a 178% advance from the year earlier. Amin raised his price target to 60 from 56.
[Apr 24, 2012: Questcor Pharmaceuticals with Solid Beat of Top and Bottom Lines]
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