Will Intercept Pharma Outperform? These Analysts Think So

Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ICPT) released its fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial results on March 2. The biopharmaceutical company focuses on chronic liver diseases, although it does not yet produce any drugs of its own.

Intercept is in the process of gaining approval for obeticholic acid (OCA), but the company currently earns revenue through research partnerships.

The report revealed widened losses but posted revenue above expectations. Intercept posted fourth quarter net losses of -$1.63 a share, wider than the loss of -$0.64 from the same quarter of last year.

Zack's estimated a loss of -$1.53 per share. Losses also widened for the full year, with -$13.63 for 2014, compared to -$3.76 in 2013.

Intercept posted fourth quarter licensing revenue of $4.45 million, surpassing the analyst estimate of $4.3 million and marking a 10 percent year-over-year increase from $4.05 million. The company increased spending in 2014 to aid OCA development and to hire 96 new employees.

According to SmarterAnalyst, analyst Liana Moussatos of Wedbush reiterated an Outperform rating on ICPT on March 2 with a price target of $493. Moussatos notes, ""The company ended 2014 with about $239.7MM in cash which, with the $191 million financing in February, we project will last into mid-2017—which includes potential launches of OCA." The analyst also believes that there could be an "immediate uptick in ICPT's valuation" when there is "confirmation that a pre-approval cardiovascular study is not required" for the approval of OCA. Moussatos predicts that OCA will be launched in early 2016, noting "[worldwide] peak sales could reach $2.4BN in 2022."

Moussatos has rated INTC 10 times since April 2014, earning a 78 percent average success rate recommending the stock and an impressive +139.4 percent average return per INTC recommendation. Overall, Liana Moussatos has a 76 percent success rate recommending stocks with a +56 percent average return per recommendation.

Separately on March 2, analyst Michael Yee of RBC Capital maintained an Outperform rating on ICPT with a $490 price target. This was his second time rating the stock after he rated it a Buy in October, which earned him a +1.9 percent average return. Overall, Yee has a 72 percent success rate recommending stocks and a +13.9 percent average return per recommendation.

On average, the top analyst consensus on TipRanks for Intercept Pharma is Strong Buy.