Amylyx Pharmaceuticals meaningfully missed Wall Street's expectations on Thursday amid struggles with its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis drug. AMLX stock crashed.
It's been over a year since the Food and Drug Administration approved its drug, Relyvrio, to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, it causes progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain.
Amylyx noted patients are dropping off Relyvrio treatment after six months, Evercore ISI analyst Michael DiFiore said in a report. But Amylyx said the number of new patients starting treatment was "steady." DiFiore says his math suggests otherwise.
He also noted Amylyx blocked analysts from seeing Relyvrio prescription data this summer.
"Knowing that stock had underperformed in 2023 already, management could have communicated the discontinuations dynamic much earlier," he said. "Stock move today in a bad biotech tape and fund performance doesn't help investor confidence among folks that have held onto the stock."
On today's stock market, AMLX stock plummeted 31.9%, closing the regular session at 12.26.
AMLX Stock: Wide Sales, Earnings Misses
Overall, Relyvrio generated $102.7 million in sales. Though sales grew almost 5% sequentially, they missed analysts' forecasts, which ranged from $108.5 million to $113.8 million, Mizuho Securities analyst Graig Suvannavejh said in a report.
Earnings came in at 30 cents per share, swinging from a year-earlier loss of 92 cents. But that missed expectations for 44 cents, according to FactSet.
Evercore's DiFiore says AMLX stock analysts' views for 2024 will "need to come down meaningfully." Analysts currently project $591 million in U.S. sales of Relyvrio. But he says $500 million is closer to what the Street should expect.
"I assume discontinuation rate at month six slows a bit — but not majorly," he said. "New adds improves a bit — but not majorly. Net price per patient stays flat."
But he kept his outperform rating on AMLX stock.
Follow Allison Gatlin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_AGatlin.
