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Valued at a market cap of $82.9 billion, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) discovers, manufactures, and commercializes medicines for treating various serious medical diseases. The Tarrytown, New York-based company’s portfolio boasts nine marketed drugs, which are Eylea, Dupixent, Praluent, Kevzara, Libtayo, Evkeeza, Inmazeb Arcalyst and Zaltrap and is also known for developing an antibody cocktail for COVID-19, called REGEN-COV.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap” stocks, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals fits right into that category. The biotech company is considered a pioneer in antibody research and is known for developing innovative medicines for patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neurological diseases, hematologic conditions, infectious diseases and various other rare diseases.
Despite its strength, the healthcare company’s shares have slipped 37.7% from its 52-week high of $1,211.20 reached on Aug. 27. Moreover, over the past three months, REGN declined nearly 36.1%, significantly underperforming the broader Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 15.5% gain.
Moreover, over the past 52 weeks, REGN has dipped 8.4%, significantly underperforming NASX’s 39.1% returns over the same time frame. On a YTD basis, shares of REGN are down 14.1%, massively lagging behind NASX’s 31.5% gains.
To confirm its bearish trend, REGN has been trading below its 200-day moving average since mid-October, and has been trading below its 50-day moving average since late September.
REGN's underperformance over the past year has been primarily due to recent legal setbacks and the impending danger of biosimilar competition, which has hurt the company's significant revenue driver, the Eylea franchise, which treats various eye conditions.
On Oct. 31, REGN shares fell 9.2% after its Q3 earnings release mainly due to the company’s lighter-than-expected sales of its new eye disease drug, Eylea HD. Otherwise, it has delivered a strong performance. REGN’s revenue climbed 10.6% year-over-year to $3.72 billion and surpassed the Wall Street estimates of $3.67 billion, while its adjusted earnings of $12.46 per share increased 7.5% from a year ago and outpaced the consensus estimates by 6%.
REGN underperformed when compared to its rival, Amgen Inc. (AMGN), which gained 2.1% over the past 52 weeks and declined 3.4% on a YTD Basis.
Despite Regeneron’s recent underperformance, analysts remain strongly optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 27 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $1060 suggests a massive 40.5% premium to its current levels.
