Here's What's Driving Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Stock 8% Higher Today
The drugmaker confirmed there's a strong market for two of its treatments.
Shares of drugmaker Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CPRX) are up a little more than 8% as of midday on Thursday, down slightly from an intraday peak gain of nearly 13%. The company's fourth-quarter results posted after Wednesday's close were markedly better than expected.
Catalyst Pharmaceuticals' specialty is treating rare diseases, which inherently leaves it off of most investors' radars.
Nevertheless, growth is relative, and this company's relative growth right now is impressive to say the least. Last quarter's top line of $141.8 million was 28% better than the year-ago comparison, handily topping analysts' expectation of less than $133 million. The small company also turned a non-GAAP (adjusted) profit of $0.70 per share versus estimates of only $0.52. Its muscle-disease drug Firdapse led the way, although recently FDA-approved Agamree for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (licensed to Catalyst by Santhera) drove the bulk of its absolute sales growth.
