Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Stock Hold Recommendation Reiterated (ONXX)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Onyx Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:ONXX) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a hold with a ratings score of C . The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, weak operating cash flow and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 7.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 7.0%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• ONXX's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.24 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. Along with this, the company maintains a quick ratio of 4.16, which clearly demonstrates the ability to cover short-term cash needs.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Biotechnology industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 94.4% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$54.54 million to -$106.05 million.
• Net operating cash flow has significantly decreased to -$42.61 million or 139.60% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of therapies that target the molecular mechanisms that cause cancer in the United States and internationally. The company has a P/E ratio of 248, above the average drugs industry P/E ratio of 239.7 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Onyx has a market cap of $4.68 billion and is part of the health care sector and drugs industry. Shares are up 63.6% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full Onyx Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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