Pacira gains as Wedbush initiates at Outperform seeing attractive entry point

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• The shares of pain therapy developer Pacira BioSciences (NASDAQ:PCRX) gained in the morning hours Tuesday after Wedbush Securities started its coverage with an Outperform recommendation citing a compelling buying opportunity.
• Pacira (PCRX) has lost more than 37% over the past 12 months, and the analyst Andreas Argyrides argues: “We find the setup for the stock this year creates an attractive buying opportunity.”
• The analyst points to management efforts to improve the uptake of the company’s non-opioid post-surgical analgesic Exparel and predicts additional upside for his 12-month target of $60 from multiple catalysts this year.
• Argyrides argues that despite a significant decline in surgical operations last year, Pacira (PCRX) improved Exparel sales by more than 7% to ~$537M, thanks to expanded market penetration.
• However, citing persisting volume headwinds related to elective procedures, Wedbush revises down the 2023 growth forecast for Exparel to a mid-single-digit percentage range from a pandemic-era mid-teens percentage.
• This month, Seeking Alpha contributor Zach Bristow issued a Hold rating on Pacira (PCRX), arguing “more evidence (is) needed to advocate entry at current valuations.”