Vaxart stock drops more than 8% due to soaring Q3 expenses, worsening cash flow
Shares of US micro-vaccine maker Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT) yes down 8.6% to $1.27 in late afternoon trading Wednesday, after its quarterly operating expenses skyrocketed and its cash balance shrunk.
Company after hours on Tuesday posted EPS GAAP Q3 in total – $0.23 beat the estimate by $0.01. It did not report any revenue for the quarter.
VXRT stock has had a terrible drop, posted a losing streak of seven days in yesterday’s trading session.
VXRT initially opened higher and rallied as much as 14% in the first hour of trading, as investors appeared to be buying into the depressed stock. But the stock depreciated shortly thereafter and by mid-morning was in the red.
VXRT’s total operating expenses in Q3 increased by ~69% to $29.4 million, mainly due to an increase in R&D expenses of more than 80%.
Vaxart is headquartered in South San Francisco, California (VXRT) is developing vaccines for COVID-19, norovirus, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and human papillomavirus.
The company is currently conducting a two-part phase 2 clinical trial of its oral COVID vaccine tablet. VXRT at the beginning of September said the first part of the test achieved its main objectives.
“The increase (in Q3 R&D expenses) was primarily due to increased headcount and associated costs, and production and clinical trial costs associated with COVID-19 and norovirus vaccine candidates. ours,” VXRT said in income statement.
VXRT ended Q3 with cash, cash equivalents, and available-for-sale debt securities of $114.8 million, about 13% lower than the $131.5 million reported at the end of Q2. .