Xoma Shareholders Ready for Tuesday’s Earnings Report

Xoma Co. will release its earnings report on Tuesday after the closing bell. The company’s stock opened the week trading at $4.72 a share. The company’s director, John Varian, sold 13,549 shares of his stock on December 21, 2016.

The company’s stock is up 1.69% on Monday.

Xoma was the face of 4 lawsuits in 2015, as shareholders sued the company due to late-stage drug failures. The company, at the time, had losses of over $1 billion. Varian, CEO in 2015, stated he was “determined to see Xoma succeed.”

The company, founded in 1981, has yet to take a drug through the third-stage FDA approval process.

The company’s initiative to correct past mistakes includes bringing Matthew Perry of BVF Partners onto the company’s board of directors. A $25 million registered offering was announced three weeks ago. The company offered a direct sale of common and preferred stock.

Last month, the company’s Candidate 358 showed signs of progress, with the announcement of plans to offer children’s studies on the drug in the future. Shareholders will find that the company made significant progress this quarter, with $22 million in royalty streams in two separate licensing agreements.

The company’s past lawsuits and a commitment to change will make the Tuesday earnings report pivotal for its future. The company’s stock fell sharply in 2016, falling 80% at one point during the fiscal year. The company also hit all-time lows of $4.70 a share in October, slightly below the company’s opening price on Monday.

Jim Neal was named as the company’s CEO in December, pushing the company’s stock up 16%. A reduction of 57 jobs further helped the company reduce overhead while trying to boost profits for investors.

Biotechnology Value Fund LP maintains a 9.2% share in the company, with the company owning over 695,000 shares of Xoma.