Jefferies maintains a Buy rating on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMPH), and raised the price target to $19.00 (from $18.00), after a strong Q1. Analyst David Steinberg said that the strong Q1 was driven by a better than expected top line.

Steinberg commented on AMPH, saying, "Posting sales of $27.1M (+37% Y/Y), AMPH’s base IMS injectables business contributed to half of the Q1 rev upside relative to our est, largely reflecting price increases implemented last Oct. The other half of the topline beat was due to higher than forecasted sales of enoxaparin ($24M, -9% Y/Y), which did not erode as quickly as we had anticipated post Teva’s recent generic launch. This appears largely due to stickiness of AMPH’s GPO contracts. Reflecting higher runrates for both of these segments, we are increasing our FY15 and FY16 rev ests by $15M and $14M to $222M and $265M, respectively."

Steinberg also added that, "Mgt disclosed that its upcoming NDA filing later this year is an intranasal formulation of naloxone, which the co currently supplies as a prefilled syringe. Not only was this a surprise but FDA’s move to grant fast track for a 505b2 product is highly unusual and appears to signify an urgency to address a major public safety concern regarding opioid overdoses. We have not included this opportunity in our model and will do so once a partnership has been consummated. Mgt also reaffirmed its intention to resubmit its NDA for Primatene midyear, which could also position the drug (~$70-80M peak opportunity) for a 2016 launch. Lastly, AMPH remains hopeful for a near term Amphadase ($4-5M annual sales) approval as the pre-approval site inspection was completed over a year ago."

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Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals closed at $15.21 yesterday.