Why Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Stock Is Sinking Today

Shares of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MDGL) were sinking 13.3% lower as of 11:11 a.m. ET on Monday. The sell-off came after the drugmaker announced its preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results.

Madrigal reported preliminary Q4 net sales for its metabolic steatohepatitis (MASH) drug Rezdiffra of between $100 million and $103 million. The company announced preliminary full-year 2024 net sales of the drug of between $177 million and $180 million. Madrigal also stated that it should end 2024 with cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities of around $931 million.

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What did investors dislike about Madrigal's results?

On the surface, Madrigal's preliminary numbers looked pretty good. The average estimates among analysts surveyed by LSEG was for Q4 revenue of nearly $91.8 million and full-year revenue of around $168.3 million. Madrigal easily beat both estimates.

So what was there to dislike about the company's preliminary results? Sometimes, Wall Street has higher expectations than their official estimates indicate. Madrigal appears to have failed to hit those so-called "whisper numbers," causing the biotech stock to fall.

Buy Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock on the pullback?

It's important to remember that Rezdiffra is only in the early stages of its U.S. launch. The drug won U.S. regulatory approval in March 2024. So far, it's the only approved treatment for MASH in the country. Also, Madrigal is preparing to for a European launch in the second half of 2025. Positive results from an ongoing clinical trial evaluating Rezdiffra in compensated cirrhosis could provide a nice catalyst.

So should aggressive investors buy Madrigal Pharmaceuticals stock on the pullback? I think so.

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Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.