Bluebird Bio (BLUE 7.27%) had quite a ride with their stock on Tuesday. Following the gene-editing specialist’s release of its latest quarterly results, its shares climbed to a more than 7% gain on the day. That was more than good enough to beat the 0.3% uptick of the S&P 500 index.
Bluebird edged past the consensus bottom-line estimate
Before market open, Bluebird divulged it earned just under $12.4 million in its third quarter, well up from the $71,000 it booked in the same period of 2022. The specialty biotech also managed to narrow its net loss, which came in at $71.7 million, or $0.66 per share, against the year-ago deficit of $76.5 million.
That bottom-line result edged past the average analyst estimate, which was $0.67 per share. However, the consensus prognosticator forecast for revenue was nearly $13.6 million.
Bluebird is a company on the upswing with two commercialized drugs: Zynteglo, which treats transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT), a blood disease; and Skysona, a treatment for pediatric disorder cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD). Both won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the second half of 2022. While neither is a common disease, the pair provides a modest revenue base for the company.
Cash on hand
Bluebird did not proffer any guidance for either its current (fourth) quarter or full-year 2023. It did say that aided by a cash balance of around $227 million as of the end of September, it should be able to pay operating expenses and capital expenditures into the second quarter of 2024.
