Ligand Pharma (NASDAQ: LGND) reported Q4 EPS of $0.71, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $0.63. Revenue for the quarter came in at $27 million versus the consensus estimate of $25.2 million.

“Ligand made tremendous progress during 2019 in areas that will drive our future success, including new license agreements, outstanding revenue performance driven by record revenue for Captisol and Kyprolis royalties, expansion of our proprietary technology platforms and continued investment in internal programs,” said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand. “Last year we entered into nine OmniAb® licensing transactions, reported positive Phase 1 results with Captisol-enabled Iohexol, bolstered our technology assets with the acquisition of an antigen design company, and advanced five internal immuno-oncology programs.”

“Partners secured regulatory approvals during the year and we now have 13 partnered products contributing to royalty revenues, with as many as eight more potential approvals over the next three years. The first of 12 OmniAb programs currently in human trials entered pivotal testing in 2019.”

“From a financial perspective, revenues exceeded the guidance we introduced last March after we monetized our Promacta® assets for $827 million. That transaction was transformative for Ligand and provided significant cash for M&A activities and share repurchases. Over the past 18 months we have retired close to 25% of our outstanding shares through open-market repurchases which, all other things being equal, would result in future cash flow and profits per share increasing more than 30% given the new lower share count.”

Higgins concluded, “As we move into 2020, we believe Ligand is well-positioned as a financial growth company driven by innovative technologies that enable partners to develop drugs. We are optimistic about our outlook, specifically in terms of EBITDA margin expansion, earnings growth and cash flow. For 2020 we forecast 14% organic revenue growth and 35% organic growth in adjusted diluted EPS, after factoring in the divestiture of Promacta in early 2019.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Ligand Pharma (LGND) click here.