Alexion (ALXN) Stock Gains on Ratings Upgrade
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) - Get Report are rising 1.67% to $126.50 in pre-market trading on Monday after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral."
The ratings upgrade reflects Credit Suisse's belief that the stock has more potential for upside surprises than downside surprise at its current level.
"We think expectations now bake in biosimilar/competition risk, and we see various products in the pipeline that could drive upside from here," the firm said.
But the firm cut its price target to $165 from $186 on shares of the New Haven, CT-based biopharmaceutical company given lower expectations for the company's Kanuma therapy.
Credit Suisse now estimates $249 million in sales in 2020, down from its previous estimate of $581 million and lower than the $490 million consensus.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates the stock as a "hold" with a ratings score of C.
Alexion's strengths such as its robust revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, disappointing return on equity and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: ALXN
TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this article's author.