Dj Prothena Price Target Maintained With A $84.00/Share By Hc Wainwright & Co

Prothena Corporation PRTA reported a loss per share of $1.10 per share in the third quarter of 2024, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.18.

In the year-ago quarter, the company posted earnings of 38 cents per share, driven by higher revenues.

Third-quarter 2024 revenues totaled $1 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 million. PRTA recorded revenues of $85 million in the third quarter of 2023 on the back of collaboration revenues from partner Bristol Myers Squibb BMY.

The company’s shares have lost 52.2% year to date compared with the industry’s decline of 0.9%.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.

PRTA's Q3 Results in Detail

Research and development (R&D) expenses decreased 12.4% year over year to $50.7 million, primarily due to lower manufacturing expenses.

General and administrative expenses amounted to $16.8 million, up from $16.6 million in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to higher personnel-related expenses.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, Prothena had $520.1 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, and no debt.

Pipeline Updates from PRTA

Prothena is evaluating PRX012 — a wholly owned investigational next-generation subcutaneous, single-injection once-monthly antibody delivered subcutaneously targeting a key epitope at the N-terminus of amyloid beta (Aβ) — for treating Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Initial phase I single ascending dose and multiple ascending dose data support once-monthly subcutaneous administration and ongoing evaluation in MAD cohorts.

PRTA has enrolled approximately 260 patients in the ongoing ASCENT clinical studies on PRX012. Prothena expects to report multiple clinical readouts starting in mid-2025.

PRTA is advancing an early-stage pipeline of programs for several potential neurological indications with BMY.

BMS-986446 (formerly PRX005) is designed to be a best-in-class anti-tau, MTBR-specific antibody for the potential treatment of AD.

Bristol Myers continues to enroll in the ongoing phase II study on BMS-986446 in approximately 475 patients with early AD. The study is expected to be completed in 2027.

BMY is responsible for all development, manufacturing and commercialization of BMS-986446.

PRX019, a potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with an undisclosed target, is also being developed in collaboration with BMY. PRTA has initiated a phase I first-in-human clinical trial on PRX019 to evaluate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, and pharmacokinetics of single ascending and multiple doses in healthy adults.

Prothena is also developing a dual Aβ-Tau vaccine, PRX123, a potential prevention and treatment for AD. It is a dual-target vaccine targeting key epitopes within the N-terminus of Aβ and MTBR-tau, designed to promote amyloid clearance and block the transmission of pathogenic tau. The FDA cleared an investigational new drug application.

The regulatory body granted Fast Track designation to PRX123 for the treatment of AD. Prothena expects to update plans for the phase I study in 2025.

The company is evaluating prasinezumab, in collaboration with Roche RHHBY, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD).

A phase II study, PASADENA, is being conducted by Roche in patients with early PD. Data from the study showed that patients taking prasinezumab continued to show reduced motor and functional progression compared with real-world data after four years.

Top-line results from the phase IIb PADOVA study, which has completed enrollment, are expected in the ongoing quarter.

Prothena is also evaluating birtamimab, a wholly-owned potential treatment for AL amyloidosis. PRTA reached a Special Protocol Assessment agreement with the FDA and initiated a confirmatory phase III AFFIRM-AL study of birtamimab in Mayo Stage IV patients with AL amyloidosis. Top-line results from the study are expected in the first half of 2025.

Novo Nordisk NVO acquired Prothena’s clinical-stage antibody, Coramitug (formerly PRX004), a potential first-in-class amyloid depleter antibody for the treatment of ATTR amyloidosis with cardiomyopathy.

NVO is conducting an ongoing phase II study in patients with ATTR cardiomyopathy. The study has completed enrollment of approximately 99 patients and top-line data from the same is expected in the first half of 2025.

PRTA Reiterates 2024 Guidance

The company expects 2024 net cash burn from operating and investing activities to be in the range of $148-$160 million. Prothena expects year-end cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash midpoint to be approximately $468 million. Net loss for 2024 is projected to be in the $120-$135 million range.

PRTA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Zacks Investment Research

Prothena (PRTA) came out with a quarterly loss of $1.10 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.18. This compares to earnings of $0.38 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 6.78%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this drug developer would post a loss of $1.01 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.22, delivering a surprise of 220.79%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times.

Prothena, which belongs to the Zacks Medical - Biomedical and Genetics industry, posted revenues of $0.97 million for the quarter ended September 2024, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 53.81%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $84.87 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.

Prothena shares have lost about 50.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 25.8%.

What's Next for Prothena?

While Prothena has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Prothena: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$1 on $14.08 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$2.34 on $144.59 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Medical - Biomedical and Genetics is currently in the top 29% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

One other stock from the same industry, scPharmaceuticals, Inc. (SCPH), is yet to report results for the quarter ended September 2024. The results are expected to be released on November 13.

This company is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.30 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +26.8%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.

scPharmaceuticals, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $10.9 million, up 186.7% from the year-ago quarter.

Zacks Investment Research