In a report released yesterday, Jason Zemansky from Bank of America Securities reiterated a Hold rating on Cytokinetics (CYTK – Research Report), with a price target of $54.00.
Jason Zemansky’s rating is based on a combination of factors related to the recent developments in the cardiac myosin inhibitor (CMI) market and Cytokinetics’ strategic positioning. The recent failure of Bristol’s phase 3 trial for mavacamten in symptomatic nHCM has raised concerns about the broader potential for CMIs, including Cytokinetics’ aficamten, which is still in development. This has led to a cautious outlook on the commercial viability of aficamten, particularly as the nHCM market is smaller compared to oHCM.
Despite some optimism around Cytokinetics’ REDWOOD Cohort 4 results, the small and open-label nature of the study, along with the lack of exercise capacity assessment, suggests potential biases that could affect payer acceptance. Consequently, Zemansky has lowered the likelihood of success for aficamten in nHCM and heart failure, reflecting a more conservative revenue forecast. Additionally, the macroeconomic environment and increased weighted average cost of capital (WACC) have contributed to a reduced price objective, leading to the Hold rating for Cytokinetics’ stock.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 154 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of CYTK in relation to earlier this year.