Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.12, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $36.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.96 million. Zevra Therapeutics had a net margin of 78.17% and a return on equity of 57.42%.

Here are the key takeaways from Zevra Therapeutics’ conference call:

• Zevra reported strong commercial traction in Q1 with $36.2 million in net revenue (up 78% YoY) and 170 prescription enrollment forms for MIPLYFFA since launch (9 in Q1), representing roughly half of the diagnosed U.S. NPC patient pool and 69% coverage of lives.
• The company monetized non-core assets by selling the SDX portfolio for $50 million, recorded a one-time gain (~$43.3M), received the bulk of proceeds in Q1, paid off debt early (saving ~ $8M/year) and ended March with $236.8 million in cash and no debt.
• Q1 GAAP net income of $37.9 million was driven largely by the SDX sale one-time gain; on an adjusted basis excluding those items net income was ~$11.5 million, and the company has largely exhausted usable NOL carryforwards and recorded a ~$6.9M tax provision.
• The phase III DiSCOVER trial of celiprolol for vEDS has enrolled 62 patients (10 in Q1) and is event?driven with only 2 of 28 events confirmed for the interim analysis; management is pursuing enrollment initiatives and a follow-up FDA Type C meeting in H2 to explore acceleration options.
• Regulatory and global expansion progress includes an EMA marketing authorization application for arimoclomol (responses to 120?day questions submitted), orphan designation in Europe, and 122 patients enrolled in the global EAP—supporting potential European commercialization upside.

Zevra Therapeutics Stock Up 6.0%

ZVRA stock opened at $11.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $665.10 million, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.68, a quick ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Zevra Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $7.16 and a 12 month high of $13.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Zevra Therapeutics and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Zevra Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Zevra Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Zevra Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,134,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,164,000 after acquiring an additional 99,107 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 174.4% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 92,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 58,695 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 44,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 8,359 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Zevra Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $124,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 181,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 28,818 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.03% of the company’s stock.

About Zevra Therapeutics

Zevra Therapeutics, Inc discovers and develops various proprietary prodrugs to treat serious medical conditions in the United States. The company develops its products through Ligand Activated Therapy platform. Its lead product candidate is KP1077, consisting of KP1077IH, which is under Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, and KP1077N, which is under Phase ½ clinical trial to treat narcolepsy. The company is also developing Celiprolol, a prodrug product candidate that is under Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of vascular Ehlers Danlos syndrome.