Ligand Pharma Issues Mixed Guidance For FY23 - Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND)

At its Investor and Analyst Day event, Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated LGND provided an overview of Ligand's corporate structure and business following the successful spin-off of its OmniAb antibody discovery business.
Management also introduced 2023 financial guidance.
Related: Ligand To Spin-Off OmniAb Via Avista Capital-Backed SPAC Merger.
The management reviewed Ligand's role in manufacturing Veklury (remdesivir) to treat COVID-19 and highlighted that cumulative sale of Captisol related to COVID between 2020 and 2022 are expected to exceed $300 million, providing Ligand with significant non-dilutive capital.
The company forecasts FY23 core revenue of $118-$122 million, including $72-$76 million from royalties, $21 million from sales of Captisol (excluding COVID-related sales) and $25 million from contract revenue.
It forecasts adjusted diluted EPS of $3.10-$3.30 versus the consensus of $2.99.
Excluding COVID-related Captisol sales, the company's FY22 outlook was for revenue of $99 million - $104 million and adjusted EPS of $2.05 to $2.20, as per the company's Q3 report.
Ligand estimates that at the end of 2022, it will have $150 million of cash and investments to fund its M&A initiatives.
Price Action: LGND shares are down 1.44% at $63.87 on the last check Tuesday.