Intra-Cellular Therapies is finding support at the 21-day moving average in a flat base. The buy point is 66.56. The growth stock is in the IBD 50 list of stocks with strong fundamental and technical ratings and matching price performance.
The early-stage base-on-base pattern has a depth of 12%, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis.
The growth stock has a stellar record of sales increases over the past seven quarters. Sales have grown at a compounded rate of 55% over the past 10 years and ranged from 120% to a staggering 950% from previous year quarters.
Sales of $95.3 million grew an impressive 172% in the fiscal first quarter, though the loss per share of 46 cents shows that the company has yet to become profitable. Its drug Caplyta accounted for almost all sales, with total prescriptions increasing 159%. ITCI stock rose after results and broke out on May 1 as part of a five day-winning streak before starting the new base.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect a steeper loss of 60 cents per share for the June quarter on sales of $106 million.
For fiscal 2023, the company expects sales of Caplyta to be around $430 million to $455 million.
Growth Stock Surges On Positive Results for Lumateperone
Intra-Cellular shares surged on March 28 after the New York company announced positive results at week 6 for it double-blinded placebo-controlled randomized study of its drug Lumateperone to treat depressive and bipolar disorders with mixed features. Mixed features — which include depressive symptoms during a manic phase and vice versa — have been the more difficult to treat.
For high-growth companies, cash position is a key data point to watch. ITCI ended with $541 million in cash for the first quarter, compared with $594 million a year ago.
ITCI stock has an adequate Composite Rating of 89 and an RS Rating of 90. The stock has gained 22% so far this year. It trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 19.6, according to FactSet. It is in the highly ranked medical biomedical group, which sits at No. 21 in IBD's 197 industry groups.
Intra-Cellular specializes in small molecule drug treatments for neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's, by targeting intracellular signals in the central nervous system.
Its chief drug, Caplyta, is approved for treating schizophrenia and conditions associated with bipolar disorder in adults. The drug is used as a primary treatment or in combination with lithium or FDA-approved drugs to treat mixed-features disorders.
Funds Owning ITCI
Mutual funds own 70% of outstanding shares. The Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B indicates that the stock is one that institutional investors have been buying.
Mutual funds holding the growth stock include Vanguard Health Care Fund and Fidelity Growth Company Fund.
Exchange traded funds hold the stock as well. The Vanguard Small Cap ETF and SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals hold shares of ITCI.
Please follow VRamakrishnan on Twitter for more news on the stock market today.
