Knight Therapeutics setting up nicely for 2017, says Laurentian

Laurentian Bank Securities analyst Joseph Walewicz says investors shouldn’t read too much into Knight Therapeutics’ (Knight Therapeutics Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:GUD) first quarter results, but should instead concentrate on the way the company’s efforts are setting up a potentially prosperous 2017.

Yesterday, Knight Therapeutics reported its Q1, 2016 results. The company earned $477,000 on revenue of $1.06-million.

“We are off to a ‘GUD’ start in 2016 having signed long-term partnerships with Braeburn, EMPA, Intega and Medimetriks,” said CEO Jonathan Ross Goodman. “Rest assured that the Knight team is working diligently toward deploying capital in low-risk, fair-return opportunities.”

Walewicz notes that management has said it is working on some eighty opportunities and the potential for upside from M&A is solid.

“Over the next 18 months commercial activities should ramp up as GUD prepares for key Rx product launches, including Iluvien, Probuphine and ATryn (all pending Health Canada approval), as well as AzaSite (approved),” says the analyst. “We continue to believe that the current market turmoil will present opportunities to well capitalized companies, including Knight.”

In a research update to clients today, Walewicz maintained his “Hold” rating and one-year price target of $8.50 on Knight Therapeutics, implying a return of 2.4 per cent at the time of publication.