Health Care

UnitedHealth Seeing Steep Medical Cost Headwinds, RBC Says

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is seeing a steeper-than-expected medical cost trend amid elevated Medicare coding intensity and temporary Medicaid acuity headwinds, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday. RBC said it is raising its 2025 Medical Care Ratio estimate by 70 basis points to 84.7% and lowering its adjusted earnings per share estimate to $29.75 from $30.84 previously. “Our estimate reflects elevated Medicare coding intensity, which has persisted beyond resumption prior authorization, as well as Medicaid acuity headwinds, which should be transitory,” RBC analysts said in the note. UnitedHealth’s management cited three headwinds, including an about 20% rise in Medicare coding intensity, elevated Medicaid acuity from timing mismatches, and increased specialty drug prescribing, RBC said, adding that these specialty headwinds should not affect the medical cost ratio beyond Q4 as the company has priced for Inflation Reduction Act drug provisions in its 2025 bids. RBC reiterated its outperform rating on […]

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UnitedHealth Cites Multiple Factors Weighing On Earnings

UnitedHealth Group’s 2025 earnings guidance came in below analyst forecasts, weighing on its shares as the healthcare heavyweight deals with a variety of factors that are hurting profitability. The company says recent Medicaid redeterminations have left it with fewer, but sicker, members, while funding from Medicare has declined despite elevated hospital spending, Mizuho analyst Ann Hynes says in a research note. There has also been an increase in the utilization of expensive specialty drugs, the analyst says. UnitedHealth says it expects to continue facing these cost pressures as certain care patterns persist at higher levels than previously expected, the analyst says. Shares fall 7% to $562.48.

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Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) Goldman Sachs 45th Annual Global Healthcare Conference (Transcript)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Goldman Sachs 45th Annual Global Healthcare Conference June 10, 2024 1:20 PM ET Company Participants Stephen Hoge – President Conference Call Participants Salveen Richter – Goldman Sachs Salveen Richter Great. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. Really pleased to have Stephen Hoge, President of Moderna with us this morning. Stephen Hoge Thanks for having us. Question-and-Answer Session Q – Salveen Richter After having just announced some news today on the COVID-flu combo, perhaps before we get into that, some big-picture questions, Moderna has over 40 programs in development. And in the context of R&D spend management, what is your strategy for pipeline prioritization? Stephen Hoge Great question. So, well, thank you, first of all. It’s really exciting to be here, the first time in Miami with you too. So, first on the question of prioritization, as you know well, because you’ve followed us

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CFRA Keeps Strong Buy Opinion On Shares Of Eli Lilly And Company

We lift our target to $940 from $930, reflecting a 49.1x multiple on our 2025 EPS, above LLY’s historical forward P/E average. We keep our 2024 EPS estimate at $14.05 and 2025’s at $19.14. The recently shared data from the Phase 2 study of Tirzepatide to treat Mash, a serious fatty liver disease, showing efficiency in patients receiving different doses of the therapy vs. the placebo without worsening fibrosis, is positive and could support the potential for indication expansion, in our view. On a separate note, LLY announced the departure of its CFO, A. Ashkenazi, who held the role since 2021 and spent 23 years at LLY. Ashkenazi will join Alphabet as the new CFO in July 31, while LLY starts to look for a replacement. We are not concerned about the leadership change at this point, as Ashkenazi will hold the role until the end of July and LLY

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Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) Moderna Oncology Investor Event (Transcript)

Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) Moderna Oncology Investor Event June 3, 2024 7:15 PM ET Company Participants Stephen Hoge – PresidentKyle Holen – Head of Development, Therapeutics and OncologyMichelle Brown – Vice President, INT OncologyRose Loughlin – VP, R&D StrategyLavina Talukdar – SVP & Head of IR Conference Call Participants Luca Issi – RBC Capital MarketsGena Wang – BarclaysDina Elmonshed – JefferiesTerence Flynn – Morgan StanleyJess Fye – JPMorganMyles Minter – William BlairMani Foroohar – Leerink Partners Stephen Hoge We’re going to get started. Thank you, everybody, for taking some time out of ASCO and your time here to spend with us. I’m Stephen Hoge, I’m the President of Moderna. And I’m going to be providing a little bit of context upfront for the data we’re going to be viewing today, which will cover our full oncology pipeline. We’re incredibly excited to do that. Before I dive in, we will be making

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CFRA Retains Strong Buy Opinion On Shares Of Eli Lilly And Company

We lift our target price to $930 from $906, reflecting a 48.6x multiple on our 2025 EPS, above LLY’s historical forward P/E average, justified by LLY’s strong sales and earnings growth outlook in the next years. We lift our 2024 EPS view to $14.05 from $13.54 and 2025’s to $19.14 from $16.59 as we expect solid margin expansion. We updated our model and raised our revenue forecasts for 2024 and 2025 to $43.6B and $53.1B, respectively, pointing to 28% Y/Y and 22% Y/Y increases. We continue to see high top-line sales growth led by robust growth in Tirzepatide revenues (Mounjaro +Zepbound) both in the U.S. and internationally during 2024 and 2025, which we expect to be above $14B and $23B, respectively. We think the recently announced $9B manufacturing investment in Indiana, the largest in the firm’s history, to expand the manufacturing capacity for the active pharmaceutical ingredients in Tirzepatide products,

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Moderna Swings to 1Q Loss Amid Big Revenue Drop

Moderna is one of the most mentioned companies in the U.S. across all news items in the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data. Moderna swung to a first-quarter loss of $1.18 billion, or $3.07 a share, from a profit of $79 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a loss of $3.56 a share, on average, according to data provided by FactSet. First-quarter revenue plunged by 91% to $167 million, which still surpassed the average Wall Street target of $93 million. At the peak of the pandemic, in 2022, Moderna generated $19.3 billion in revenue. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva.

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Moderna Maintains Full-Year Sales Guidance Following First-Quarter Beat

Moderna (MRNA) on Thursday reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the first quarter, while the drugmaker affirmed its full-year revenue outlook. The company posted a loss of $3.07 a share for the March quarter, compared with earnings of $0.19 the year before. The consensus on Capital IQ was for a per-share loss of $3.57. The stock was up 6.5% in Thursday trade. Overall revenue plunged to $167 million from $1.86 billion, but was ahead of the Street’s view for $94.3 million. Product sales tanked 91% primarily driven by lower sales volume of the company’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine outside the US, Chief Financial Officer James Mock said during a conference call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. “This decline aligns with the anticipated transition of the COVID-19 vaccine market or it’s a seasonal pattern, whereas in the first quarter of 2023, we primarily delivered doses that were deferred from 2022,” according to

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Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference

The following is a summary of the Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Moderna reported Q1 2024 revenues of $167 million, mainly from respiratory vaccine sales. The company noted a net loss of $1.2 billion for the quarter. There was a significant reduction in operating expenses by almost $800 million compared to Q1 2023. Moderna’s cash and investments totaled $12.2 billion by the end of the quarter. Year-over-year reductions in R&D expenses ($1.1 billion) and a 10% decrease in SG&A expenses were witnessed. -Moderna predicts annual net sales for 2024 to be roughly $4 billion and expects cost of sales to be about 35% of product sales. The company anticipates ending the year with approximately $9 billion in cash. Business Progress: Moderna has advanced several clinical programs, particularly in vaccines, with data presented on Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), and Norovirus. Expansion of studies

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Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly’s Weight-Loss Drugs Get Price Cuts in UK

Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s (LLY) Mounjaro had their prices lowered by British online pharmacies and slimming clinics as supply shortages ease after the drugs’ recent launch, Reuters reported Thursday. Rising competition among retailers for weight-loss drugs increases risks of patients losing long-term care by switching providers, rather than relying on the National Health Service. Self-paying patients drive significant revenue for Wegovy and Mounjaro, the report said. Analysts foresee a potential $100 billion annual market for these drugs, prompting aggressive efforts by drug retailers to attract customers, Reuters said. Lilly told Reuters that it has not adjusted its prices, while Novo explained that pricing is determined by the providers delivering the drugs to patients. The NHS didn’t respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

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CFRA Retains Hold Opinion On Shares Of Moderna, Inc.

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We up our target price to $115 from $88 based on our NPV analysis. We narrow our 2024 loss per share (LPS) estimate to -$6.21 from -$6.63 and keep 2025’s LPS at -$5.24. Moderna posted a Q1 LPS of -$3.07 vs. EPS of $0.19, a solid $0.48 below the consensus LPS expectation of $3.55, driven by higher-than-expected top-line sales. Q1 revenue of $167M vs. $1.8B, came in $42M above the consensus estimate as the Covid-19 vaccine’s (Spivax) sales came in above expectations but still pointed to a sharp decline Y/Y. MRNA reiterated its net sales target of $4B for 2024, which implies around a 40% Y/Y decline. Shares are up about 13% today, due to better-than-anticipated Q1 results and the hype around the RSV vaccine, in our

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CFRA Reiterates Strong Buy Opinion On Shares Of Eli Lilly And Company

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: We raise our target price to $906 from $885, reflecting 54.6x our 2025 EPS, justified by LLY’s robust growth outlook. We lift our 2024 EPS estimate to $13.54 from $12.50 and 2025’s to $16.59 from $15.53. LLY posted Q1 EPS of $2.58 vs. $1.62, a remarkable +59% Y/Y, $0.09 above the consensus as gross margin expansion was above expectations (82.5% in Q1 2024 vs. 78.4% in Q1 2023). Q1 revenues, up by an eye catching 26% Y/Y, were $162M below consensus estimates and $230M below our forecast as sales of Mounjaro ($1.8B) and Zepbound ($517M) were slightly lower than anticipated. Yet, LLY raised its 2024 sales guidance by $2B as it expects the strong demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound to continue and has improved visibility to boost

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