2016 may be Knight Therapeutics’ time to shine, says Paradigm

A quarter that was essentially in-line with expectations isn’t changing Paradigm Capital analyst Christopher Lam’s view that Knight Therapeutics (Knight Therapeutics Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:GUD) still has upside.

Last Thursday, Knight reported its fourth quarter and fiscal 2015 results. In the fourth quarter, the company posted an EBITDA loss of $1.8-million on revenue of $343,000.

“In 2015, we deployed or committed over $70-million in low-risk, fair-return opportunities while making substantial progress towards selling innovative products that touch the lives of patients,” said CEO Jonathan Goodman. “To that end, Knight now has secured the rights to a basket of over 20 products in various stages of development for Canada. In the year ahead, we will continue to focus on acquiring new product rights that improve the health of Canadians and work toward bringing our pipeline to market.”

Lam says the quarter contained no real surprises, but notes that the macro backdrop to the company’s business has changed and may offer some opportunities. He says there may be a shakeout of assets from several highly levered specialty pharmas that could present Knight with the opportunity to acquire revenue generating assets a a discount. With a balance sheet that features $470-million in cash and no debt, the analyst thinks the company is well positioned.

“This may be Knight’s year to shine amidst a challenged specialty pharmaceutical industry laden with debt and limited organic growth prospects,” says Lam. “While sitting out of the recent acquisition frenzy, Knight’s lending strategy has yielded 20 growth assets with ATyrn, AzaSite and TULSA-PRO, potentially approved and launched over the next 12–18 months. With cash on hand, Knight also remains well capitalized to opportunistically transact for revenue-generating assets once valuations come down.”

In a research update to clients today, Lam maintained his “Buy” rating and one-year price target of $9.00 on Knight Therapeutics, implying a return of 19 per cent at the time of publication (including dividend).

We Hate Paywalls Too!

At Cantech Letter we prize independent journalism like you do. And we don't care for paywalls and popups and all that noise That's why we need your support. If you value getting your daily information from the experts, won't you help us? No donation is too small.

Make a one-time or recurring donation

Tagged with: gud
Nick Waddell

Cantech Letter founder and editor Nick Waddell has lived in five Canadian provinces and is proud of his country's often overlooked contributions to the world of science and technology. Waddell takes a regular shift on the Canadian media circuit, making appearances on CTV, CBC and BNN, and contributing to publications such as Canadian Business and Business Insider.

Recent Posts

Is Thomson Reuters stock a buy right now?

Its stock has made a since last October, but is there more upside left in Thomson Reuters (Thomson Reuters Stock… [Read More]

38 mins ago

Is GOOGL still a buy?

Following a widely applauded first quarter beat, Roth MKM analyst Rohit Kulkarni has maintained his "Buy" rating on Alphabet (Alphabet… [Read More]

1 day ago

NLH has 173% upside, Echelon says

Following an acquisition, Echelon Capital Markets analyst Stefan Quenneville has maintained his "Buy" rating on Nova Leap Health (Nova Leap… [Read More]

1 day ago

Shopify upgraded to “Buy” at Citi

The stock has been flat since November, but Citi analyst Tyler Radke thinks there is now money to be made… [Read More]

1 day ago

Sabio has 400% upside, Eight Capital says

Following the company's fourth quarter results, Eight Capital analyst Kiran Sritharan has maintained his "Buy" rating on Sabio Holdings (Sabio… [Read More]

4 days ago

Is SNAP a buy right now?

He feels the company made forward progress in its recent quarterly results, but Roth MKM analyst Rohit Kulkarni wants to… [Read More]

4 days ago