Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB) Shares Up 14.5% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB)’s stock price shot up 14.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $20.67 and last traded at $21.0250. 84,247 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 790,060 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.37.

The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.18. Zai Lab had a negative return on equity of 24.32% and a negative net margin of 39.29%.The company had revenue of $106.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.87 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ZLAB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Zai Lab from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised Zai Lab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Zai Lab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Zai Lab from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Insider Activity

In other Zai Lab news, Director William Lis sold 7,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $127,353.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,437 shares in the company, valued at $912,405.33. This trade represents a 12.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Yajing Chen sold 2,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.46, for a total transaction of $39,529.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $623,164.86. The trade was a 5.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 90,873 shares of company stock worth $1,730,096 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zai Lab

An institutional investor recently raised its stake in Zai Lab stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Zai Lab Limited Unsponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ZLAB) by 214.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,771 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,390 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Zai Lab were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 41.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Zai Lab Trading Up 12.9%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.79 and a beta of 0.78.

About Zai Lab

Zai Lab Ltd (NASDAQ: ZLAB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapies. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Zai Lab operates R&D centers in Asia and the United States and maintains commercial offices across Greater China, North America, Europe and Australia. The company’s end-to-end platform encompasses discovery biology, translational development, clinical research and global supply chain management.

The company’s marketed portfolio is anchored by Brukinsa (zanubrutinib), a next-generation Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for several B-cell malignancies.