ACADIA Pharma cut at Morgan Stanley on Daybue miss

Despite ACADIA Pharmaceuticals’ (NASDAQ:ACAD) Q2 beat yesterday, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock on Wednesday, arguing that its recently launched brain disorder therapy Daybue fell short of expectations.

Daybue, indicated in the U.S. for patients aged two years and older with the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome, added $84.6M in net product sales, the company said with its Q2 2024 results in the postmarket on Tuesday.

However, Morgan Stanley’s Jeffrey Hung wrote that Daybue missed consensus of $90M while ACADIA’s (ACAD) main revenue generator Nuplazid brought $157.4M in net product sales, exceeding $147M projected by analysts.

Despite Daybue’s long-term prospects in Rett syndrome, “we await greater clarity on longer term patient dynamics and whether the company’s initiatives translate to greater adoption,” Hung added as he downgraded the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Noting ACAD’s decision to lower the full-year net sales outlook for Daybue and increase that for Nuplazid, the analyst revised his earnings estimates for the company, leading to an update to his price target on the stock from $28 per share to $20.