Investors are likely to focus on the progress made by

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc


SRPT

with its gene therapy pipeline when it reports fourth-quarter 2020 results.

The company’s earnings missed estimates in three of the last four quarters and beat the same once with the average negative surprise being 5.41%.

Shares of Sarepta have declined 27.4% so far this year against the

industry

‘s increase of 14.9%.

In the last reported quarter, Sarepta delivered a negative earnings surprise of 32.28%.

Factors to Note

Sarepta’s two marketed drugs, Exondys 51 and Vyondys 53, are likely to have driven its revenues higher in the fourth quarter of 2020. Demand trends for the drugs have been promising in the past couple of quarters. However, new patient starts of these drugs might have been hurt by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The company’s another exon-skipping Duchenne muscular dystrophy (“DMD”) candidate, casimersen, is under review with the FDA and a decision is expected by the end of this month. Investors will likely look for updates on launch plans for the candidate on its earnings call.

Sarepta is developing a once-monthly exon-skipping candidate, SRP-5051, for a similar patient population targeted by Exondys 51 in a mid-stage study. The company is also developing gene therapies targeting muscular dystrophies including DMD. During the quarter, the company initiated a new clinical study to validate commercial process material of its lead gene therapy candidate, SRP-9001, which is being developed for treating DMD.Meanwhile, the company plans to start a pivotal study on its other gene therapy candidate, SRP-9003 in 2021 to evaluate it in patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2E.

These ongoing activities related to clinical development of Sarepta’s pipeline candidates are likely to have resulted in higher operating expenses in the fourth quarter. The company may provide update on progress with its gene therapy pipeline on the fourth-quarter earnings call.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Sarepta this earnings season. The combination of a positive

Earnings ESP

and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

Earnings ESP:

Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate (loss of $2.16) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate (loss of $1.99) is -8.16%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our

Earnings ESP Filter

.

Zacks Rank:

Sarepta currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some biotech stocks that you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

Moderna, Inc.


MRNA

has an Earnings ESP of +0.57% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

Clearside Biomedical, Inc.


CLSD

has an Earnings ESP of +4.35% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


LXRX

has an Earnings ESP of +3.57% and a Zacks Rank #2.

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