After losing more than a quarter of its market cap on Wednesday, Allakos (NASDAQ:ALLK) shares have recovered in the pre-market with a rise of ~10.9% on above-average volume. About 4.6M company shares have changed hands compared to the 65-day average volume of ~1.3M.
According to sites tracking the mentions of ticker symbols on social media sites, Allakos (ALLK) has so far retained its lead as the most popular stock on Twitter in the pre-market.
The return of investor interest in the mid-cap biotech comes despite its underwhelming data from two late-stage studies for lirentelimab (AK002), an experimental therapy for eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID). Both ENIGMA 2 and KRYPTOS trials had not met the patient-reported symptomatic co-primary endpoints with statistical significance, the company said after the close on Tuesday. Amid the selloff, several Wall Street analysts issued bearish views on the stock.
Double downgrading Allakos (ALLK) to Underperform from Buy, Bank of America argued that the lack of benefit shown in studies “likely spells the end of both programs with little chance of broad approval,” for lirentelimab. The price target cut to $12 from $155 per share implies a premium of ~40.4% to the last close.
However, Morgan Stanley maintains the Equal Weight rating on the stock despite lowing the price target to $10 from $86 per share, a premium of ~17.0% to the last close. The analysts led by Michael E Ulz argue that despite a significant decline in eosinophils, a co-primary endpoint, there were no benefits seen for symptoms, a key co-primary endpoint for both studies.