Pacific Biosciences gains on TD Cowen upgrade, citing potential for sales growth

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Pacific Biosciences (NASDAQ:PACB) shares were rising after TD Cowen called the company a growth transformation story.

Shares were up 16% on Friday, and are up 38% so far this year. TD Cowen raised its rating to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its price target to $15 from $13. At Thursday’s closing price of $9.76, the new price target implies a 53% upside.

“Picking the right entry point can be difficult, but we think it’s time to get on board this multi-year story,” TD Cowen analysts said in a note.

The company makes gene sequencing systems, and interest is building in the long-read sequencing technology Pacific Biosciences makes, the research note said. 

“After years of stagnant growth and various levels of success in meeting timelines and targets, we believe PACB is on the verge of a revenue growth inflection with the launch of the Revio (long-read) and Onso (short-read) instruments,” the analysts wrote. 

The analysts estimate that, conservatively speaking, if two in five Pacific Biosciences customers buy a Revio in 2024 and 2025, the revenue upside versus consensus could be 6% for 2023, 14% for 2024, and 12% for 2025. The upside could be even more if the shift to spending on long-read technology gains traction, as some believe.

“Surveyed users expect to buy almost 3 Revios per lab on average” through to 2024, the analysts said.