Biogen's Stock Pops Following Better-Than-Expected Q4 Results

Shares of Biogen Inc BIIB were trading higher by more than 5 percent early Wednesday morning after the company reported its fourth quarter and full year results.

Biogen earned $4.50 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $2.839 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $4.08 per share on revenue of $2.71 billion.

For the full fiscal year, Biogen's revenue totaled $10.8 billion, an increase of 11 percent from 2014. Non-GAAP net income for the full year rose 20 percent from a year ago to $3.9 billion.

"We saw solid performance in our industry leading multiple sclerosis portfolio and strong adoption of our hemophilia therapies," said Chief Executive Officer George A. Scangos, Ph.D. "We continue to make investments in important and promising programs that we believe have the potential to help people suffering from devastating diseases, and we are also excited about the potential to launch three new products this year: BENEPALI®, ZINBRYTATM, and an infliximab biosimilar."

Biogen issued guidance for the full fiscal year 2016 and expects to earn $18.30 to $18.60 per share on revenue of $11.1 billion to $11.3 billion. Wall Street analysts were projecting the company to earn $18.45 per share on revenue of $11.3 billion.

"The year ahead will be very exciting for our pipeline, as we look to advance several potential breakthrough programs," Dr. Scangos continued. "We are executing two Phase 3 clinical trials for aducanumab in Alzheimer's disease, and are awaiting new data from two other Alzheimer's candidates. We are encouraged by open label Phase 2 data for nusinersen for spinal muscular atrophy, the leading genetic cause of infant mortality, and are advancing two Phase 3 studies in infants and children with our collaboration partner Ionis.

The released continued, "We expect to see Phase 2 data for anti-LINGO in multiple sclerosis in the middle of the year, allowing us to better understand its potential to reverse or repair damage caused by the disease. We are also focused on expanding our leadership in neurology by continuing to attract top talent and using new technology, novel science and a better understanding of disease biology to pursue early stage programs in areas such as Parkinson's disease and ALS."