Verastem weakness appears overdone, says Mizuho

Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating and $15 price target on Verastem (VSTM), noting the shares are falling intraday following the company’s Q3 results. At first blush, the firm was “thoroughly impressed” by the first full quarterly sales of lead asset Avmapki Fakzynja/AF Co-Pack of $11.2M, which came in handily ahead of the firm’s and Bloomberg’s consensus estimates. Mizuho said that it believes the stock weakness is related to two updates, namely a need to add 29 additional patients to the confirmatory Phase 3 RAMP 301 study for AF and uncertainty on the timing of AF’s potential inclusion in updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network treatment guidelines. The firm added that the current weakness appears overdone and recommends being “opportunistic.”