Roth Capital: Buy The Dips In Bluebird Bio

In a report published Monday, Roth Capital analyst Debjit Chattopadhyay reiterated a Buy rating on shares of bluebird bio Inc (NASDAQ: BLUE), setting a $192 price target. The recent selloff in the stock creates “compelling entry points.”

The company counts with approximately $900 million in cash and equivalents, “unambiguous data, a defined path to market, and an evolving immunotherapy program.” These elements help it maintain an advantageous positioned in the market.

However, the analyst is not surprised by the recent weakness in the stock, especially when the considerable appreciation in the shares (up about 365 percent over the past year) and absence of near-term catalysts (post-EHA) are taken into account.

The firm expects the stock to be back in favor during the fourth quarter, ahead of the ASH meeting. Thus, Roth recommends accumulating the stock on any dips.

The analyst highlights that, although bluebird is leveraged on CART over the near-term (unlike a few of its peers), the company remains well “positioned to leverage its robust in-house expertise in: Gene editing and Lentiviral vectorology: Established GMP manufacturing capabilities and ability to execute on global gene therapy studies; evolving relationship with Five Prime Therapeutics, Baylor College of Medicine and Celgene.”

Roth expects to see a net loss of $(3.22) per share on sales of $25.5 million for 2015, and a net loss of $(3.43) per share on revenue of $25.5 million for 2016.

Shares of bluebird bio were up more than 2 percent on Monday.