Why Celldex Shares Dropped

Updated

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Celldex Therapeutics were getting rejected by investors today, falling as much as 17% after reporting earnings this morning.

So what: Celldex reported a $0.27 per share loss on revenue of $3.6 million. Earnings missed estimates, while sales beat them, but that is mostly irrelevant since Celldex is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company. Overall, the report looks strong with the company showing positive data from a phase 2b study of CDX-011 in metastatic breast cancer, as well as encouraging survival data from phase 2 studies of rindopepimut. The company's cash position also improved over 2012, adding $30 million through additional financing, which management said will "support operations and clinical development through 2015."


Now what:Today's drop could simply be a secular pullback as Celldex shares have gained 300% since October 2011 -- and nearly 50% this year alone. With no major immediate breakthroughs on the way, shares seemed due to cool off a bit. Investors may also be reacting to recent share dilution, which was needed to fund R&D. In the first two months of the year, Celldex sold 16 million more shares, diluting investors by 25%. After a volatile opening today, shares have climbed and the stock was down just 5% by midday.

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The article Why Celldex Shares Dropped originally appeared on Fool.com.

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