UPDATE: Wedbush Downgrades Ironwood Pharmaceuticals to Underperform on Higher Lizness Costs

In a report published Wednesday, Wedbush analyst Gregory R. Wade downgraded the rating on Ironwood Pharmaceuticals IRWD from Neutral to Underperform, and slightly lowered the price target from $13.00 to $12.00. In the report, Wade noted, “IRWD reported a cash burn of $93M in the quarter, ahead of our $54M projection driven by IRWD's continuing LINZESS R&D expenses, $13M in inventory build and $3M in capital expenditures. IRWD has guided to $60-75M in annual ($15-19M/quarter) of non-LINZESS-related R&D expenditures and reported $32.8M in R&D for the quarter, suggesting to us about $16M in ongoing quarterly LINZESS R&D expenses (vs. our $3.25M estimate). IRWD finished the quarter with $242M on the balance sheet (vs. our $298M estimate).” Ironwood Pharmaceuticals closed on Tuesday at $16.77.