Amgen Wins Big With FDA, Analyst Sees Soaring Potential

The FDA approval of Amgen, Inc’s (NASDAQ: AMGN) biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) psoriasis treatment, Stelara, for multiple inflammatory diseases sent shares climbing in early trading on Thursday.

Amgen has exhibited the ability “to grow mid-cycle assets, despite underwhelming initial launches,” according to Truist Securities.

The Amgen Analyst: Robyn Karnauskas upgraded the rating for Amgen from Hold to Buy, while raising the price target from $260 to $320.

The Amgen Thesis: The record sales of mature brands, like Repatha, Blincyto and Prolia, demonstrate Amgen’s commercial execution, Karnauskas said in the upgrade note.

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“Their investment in derm and primary care sales force and DTC could continue to grow the topline,” the analyst wrote. “We also note GLP-1/obesity data could be near-term catalysts that could drive up the stock,” he added.

Karnauskas said his model had been updated to include Tepezza and the other products from the recent acquisition. “With the acquisition and base biz growth, we're starting to see topline growth,” he further stated.

AMGN Price Action: Shares of Amgen were up 2.38% to $267.06 at the time of publication Thursday.

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