AUPH - Aurinia price target lowered at RBC citing COVID impact on revenue

The shares of Canadian biotech Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) are trading lower in the morning hours Thursday after RBC Capital Markets lowered its price target, citing Omicron-driven impact for sales of the company’s lupus nephritis therapy, Lupkynis. Ahead of Aurinia’s (AUPH) quarterly results expected in first half of May, the analysts led by Douglas Miehm set their 1Q and 2022 revenue estimates below the consensus. The analysts cite the COVID-led impact on Lupkynis sales ramp up due to the spread of Omicron variant largely during 1Q 2022. “We expect the Omicron wave in Q1/22 to have resulted in lower patient additions vs. discontinuations and drop-offs resulting in a sequential decline in revenues,” they noted, lowering the price target to $22 from $27 per share. However, the firm maintains the Outperform rating on the stock. In 4Q 2021, revenue from Lupkynis surged ~60% sequentially and dropped ~53% YoY to $23.4M.

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Aurinia price target lowered at RBC citing COVID impact on revenue