Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) saw its shares jump today after heavyweight broker Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating for the biotech company to ‘overweight’ with a share price target of US$60.
In New York trading, Sarepta shares were up 9.24% to US$49.55.
In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison said: "We expect continued topline beats to drive near-term upside as Sarepta's underappreciated pipeline drives long-term optionality.”
The analyst said he expects Sarepta's Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, Exondys 51 to make about US$55mln of in sales in the latest quarter, higher than the consensus forecasts of US$40mln.
Meanwhile, on the reverse tack, the same analyst downgraded his rating for another biotech firm, Bluebird Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) to ‘underweight’ with a US$105 price target.
In a separate note, Harrison noted that: "BLUE has risen 40% on CAR-T excitement since Gilead's acquisition of KITE on 8/28.”
But he added “we remain concerned about sickle cell data" expected in December as he does not believe the data will show enough improvement in haemoglobin production for investors to be confident in sickle cell gene therapy.
Bluebird Bio shares were down 6.4% at US$128.60 in morning trading.