Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $24.23, but opened at $26.15. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $25.71, with a volume of 61,632 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 18.64% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The business had revenue of $191.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.90 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMPH. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 20.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,212,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,130,000 after purchasing an additional 371,856 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,263,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,632,000 after buying an additional 130,672 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,261,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,565,000 after buying an additional 160,034 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 973,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,348,000 after buying an additional 18,161 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 238.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 868,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,179,000 after acquiring an additional 611,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.37 and its 200-day moving average is $25.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.77.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.