MoonLake Immunotherapeutics downgraded on concerns about lack of near-term catalysts

Biopharma company MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Wolfe Research, citing concerns on overpromised timelines.

MLTX down about 2% premarket.

“Lacking near-term catalysts, MLTX is expected to lay dormant, especially with HS volume slowdown. Wolfe sees downside risk from potentially overpromised timeline.

Over the next 2–3 quarters, Wolfe expects MLTX to trade in tandem with the XBI index (I.E. between $40 and $55 assuming no biotech bull run),” Wolfe said in a statement.

The research firm said that it would be wrong on this downgrade should an M&A occur over the next ~12-18 months, but it believes MLTX no longer fits the mould of 'pharma M&A target'.

“A better time to re-evaluate MLTX would be ~Q1/Q2 2025 if MLTX meets the enrollment target (likely no rewards for meeting this timeline but could be penalized for delays). Though Wolfe is bullish on product POS, it finds the near term setup less favorable,” it adds.

The company has a Hold recommendation according to SA quant system, and the stock has fallen about 17.6% YTD.

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