Needham & Company Reiterates a 'Buy' on Vertex (VRTX); Incivek Sales Continue to Fall, But Initial ALS-2200 Data Are Encouraging

Needham & Company reiterates a 'Buy' on Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) price target of $65.00.

Analyst, Alan Carr, said, "U.S. Incivek sales of $328M fell short of our $344M and consensus ~$360M estimates. Kalydeco U.S. net sales were $46M, compared to our $50M estimate and consensus $41M. The company reported $(0.31) GAAP EPS, compared to our $0.59 estimate and consensus $0.57, driven mostly by a $78M excess Incivek inventory charge. Management lowered Incivek sales guidance by $400-450M to $1.1-1.25B. Despite the anticipated challenges with Incivek, we believe the stock is attractive due to progress with the CF programs. An impressive 4.54 log decline with 7 days ALS-2200 is encouraging, but we await results from longer-term combination trials."

FY12 EPS estimate chopped from $1.73 to $0.34 and FY13 from $0.87 to $0.33.

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Vertex click here. For more ratings news on Vertex click here.

Shares of Vertex closed at $49.96 yesterday.

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