We expect investors to focus on

AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

’s

AVEO

progress with its lead product Fotivda and other pipeline candidates when it reports third-quarter 2020 earnings results.

The company’s surprise record has been mixed so far as its earnings beat estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and lagged the same on the remaining occasion, the average beat being 241.34%. In the last reported quarter, AVEO delivered an earnings surprise of 17.65%.

Shares of AVEO have declined 12.4% so far this year compared with the

industry’s

decrease of 8.3%.

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

Factors to Note

AVEO’s top line comprises collaboration and licensing revenues plus partnership royalties. Fotivda (tivozanib) is the first approved drug in the company’s portfolio having won the nod in the EU for the first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in August 2017. Revenues in the last reported quarter were almost flat year over year, a trend that most likely continued in the third quarter as well.

Notably, in June 2020, the FDA accepted AVEO’s new drug application (NDA), through which the latter sought an approval of tivozanib for relapsed or refractory RCC. A decision from the regulatory body is expected on Mar 31, 2021.

The company is preparing the launch of tivozanib in the United States. The regulatory agency conditionally accepted Fotivda as the proprietary brand name of tivozanib in the United States. Investors will be keen to get an update on the same during the upcoming earnings call.

The development and potential commercialization activities related to tivozanib are likely to have escalated the operating expense in the to-be-reported quarter.

Meanwhile, in September 2020, AVEO regained the complete global rights to ficlatuzumab, a potent hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) inhibitory antibody product candidate from privately-held company Biodesix.

The company is currently evaluating ficlatuzumab in a phase II study in combination with

Eli Lilly

’s

LLY

Erbitux (cetuximab) for addressing the recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). Enrollment in the study is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020 with the final data from the same expected in mid-2021. Ficlatuzumab is also being studied for other cancer indications. An update on the candidate’s development path is expected during the upcoming investors’ call.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for AVEO this time around. 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.

Earnings ESP:

AVEO has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the Most Accurate Estimate are pegged at a loss of 24 cents per share each. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our

Earnings ESP Filter

.

Zacks Rank:

AVEO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some drug/biotech stocks worth considering from the same space as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals


ALNY

has an Earnings ESP of +4.23% and a Zacks Rank #3, currently. The company is scheduled to report earnings on Nov 5. You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

Compugen


CGEN

has an Earnings ESP of +7.69% and a Zacks Rank #2, presently. The company is scheduled to report earnings on Nov 5.

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