Biogen Stock Fell for the Week Ending July 24
Biotech: Slumping Market Causes Stocks to Lose Steam
Biogen stock fell
For the week ending July 24, 2015, Biogen (BIIB) stock fell by -25.86%. The stock has a weight of 0.95% in the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI). The stock fell based on the downward revision of its 2015 revenue. On July 24, 2015, the company announced its second quarter results. Biogen reported revenue of $2.6 billion—a 7% rise compared to 2Q14. However, compared to 1Q15, the revenue remained flat. Although Biogen reported sales of $2.1 billion, compared to $2 billion for the same quarter last year, the company cut the sales forecast of its major revenue generators—namely Tecfidera, Avonex, and Tysabri.
Tecfidera recorded a 7% rise in its 2Q15 revenue from $825 million in 1Q15. Although the revenue rose, the sales outside the US fell by 8%. There are also the effects of the rising dollar.
Interferon revenue, including Avonex and Plegridy, were $690 million—compared to $755 million for 1Q15. This was a 9% fall. The revenue was $774 million for the same quarter last year.
Tysabri recorded revenue of $463 million—compared to $533 million for the same quarter last year. Its revenue outside the US fell by 31% compared to 2Q14. As a result of the slowdown in sales, the company lowered the GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) diluted EPS (earnings per share) to between $14.25 and $14.70. This is lower than the earlier guidance.
The above graph shows the performance of Biogen against XBI on a month-over-month basis beginning in January 2015. It’s clear that XBI has outperformed Biogen in most of the months. In the graph, it’s important to note that the July data is represented until July 24, 2015.
Biogen’s moving averages
The stock closed at $300.03 as of July 24, 2015. It’s trading below the 20, 50, and 100-day moving averages. The 14-day RSI (Relative Strength Index) is at 17. This indicates that the stock is statistically in oversold territory. However, this sell-off was driven by negative market sentiment after the earnings.
Adding fuel to the fire, BMO Capital Markets and Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “overweight” during the week ending July 24, 2015. In contrast, some of the Biogen’s peers like Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC), Receptos (RCPT), and Qiagen NV (QGEN) appear to be statistically overbought. For these companies, the 14-day RSI was 87, 73, and 71, respectively, for the week ending July 24, 2015.
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