Nabriva Therapeutics plc NBRV will provide financial and corporate updates when it releases second-quarter 2020 results.

The company has a good track record, delivering an earnings beat in the trailing four quarters. The four-quarter earnings surprise was 10.73%, on average. In the last reported quarter, Nabriva came up with anearnings surprise of 7.41%.

Shares of the company have declined 37.9% in the year so far against the industry’s growth of 6.4%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for the quarter to be reported.

Factors to Note

Nabriva’s main drug, Xenleta, is approved for the treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) in adults in the United States. In addition to Xenleta’s potential role in treating COVID-19 patients with superimposed bacterial pneumonia, the company is assessing the anti-inflammatory and antiviral activity of the drug and what role these characteristics may play in the management of patients with COVID-19. The company will provide updates on these along with the second-quarter results.

Nabriva’s distribution partners continue to primarily utilize their existing inventory to satisfy product demand, which in turn affected sales in the first quarter of 2020. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the associated disruption to the healthcare delivery and the uncertainty of resuming direct physician medical education and promotion, future sales amounts for2020 are uncertain. These are likely to have negatively impacted second-quarter 2020 sales.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company restructured its hospital-based commercial sales force and transitioned to a community-based sales force in April 2020. The restructuring resulted in the termination of 66 employees, consisting of the company’s entire hospital-based sales personnel and certain members of its sales force leadership team. It expected this reduction in personnel to result in savings of approximately $4.5 million in quarterly cash operating expenses, beginning the second quarter of 2020, until the company retained a community-based sales force. In addition, the company expected to incur a charge of approximately $500,000 related to the reduction in personnel, consisting of severance, benefits and related costs. The company is likely to have incurred these expenses in the second quarter of 2020. Nabriva also reduced commercial, medical affairs and administrative expenses. We expect the company to provide updates related to the restructuring activities in the second-quarter earnings call.

 In July 2020, the European Commission (EC) issued a legally binding decision for approval of the marketing authorization application for Xenleta for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults, following a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). 

Nabriva received a complete response letter (CRL) from the FDA for the new drug application (NDA) resubmission seeking marketing approval of Contepo (fosfomycin) for injection for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including acute pyelonephritis. 

The company will update on these announcements in the second-quarterearnings call.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Nabriva this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: Nabriva has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, as both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the Most Accurate Estimate are pegged at a loss of 15 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are some biotech stocks with the right mix of elements to beat on earnings this time around:

bluebird bio Inc. BLUE has an Earnings ESP of +69.18% and a Zacks Rank #3. 

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ACAD has an Earnings ESP of +8.12% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is scheduled to release second-quarter 2020 results on Aug 5.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. ALXN has an Earnings ESP of +0.40% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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