For today's edition of our upgrade list, we used our website's advanced screening functions to search for UPGRADES to BUY or STRONG BUY with complete forecast and valuation data. They are presented by one-month forecast return. Opiant Pharmaceuticals is a STRONG BUY stock. The other companies are ranked BUY. We did not have five upgrades today with full data, so we included Franklin Financial and Sky PLC as a courtesy.

For today's bulletin, we take a look at Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPNT) is a specialty pharmaceutical company. It is engaged in developing opioid antagonist treatments for substance use, addictive and eating disorders. Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc., formerly known as Lightlake Therapeutics, Inc., is based in New York.

The company reported Q4 and yearly results earlier this month.

For the quarter ended July 31, 2017, Opiant generated revenue of approximately $3.75 million, compared to approximately $0.3 million in the corresponding period in 2016. The increase was primarily due to the $3.75 million milestone payment that was earned under the royalty monetization agreement with SWK Funding LLC.

Selling expenses were approximately $0.3 million compared to approximately $16 thousand for the same period in 2016. For the quarter ended July 31, 2017, Opiant reported a net loss of approximately $0.3 million, or a net loss of $0.17 per basic share and fully-diluted share, compared to a net loss of approximately $1.1 million, or a net loss of $0.57 per basic share and fully-diluted share, for the same period in 2016.

For the year ended July 31, 2017, Opiant generated revenue of approximately $18.4 million, compared to approximately $9.9 million in the corresponding period in 2016. The increase was primarily due to the $3.75 million milestone payment that was earned in July 2017 and the $13.7 million received in December of 2016 at closing under the royalty monetization agreement with SWK.

For the year ended July 31, 2017, Opiant reported a net profit of approximately $6.6 million, or $3.27 per basic share and $2.94 per fully-diluted share, compared to a net loss of approximately $7.8 million, or $4.09 per basic and fully-diluted share, for the same period in 2016.

One would expect this firm to do well in the current marketplace, given the fact that they are a producer of NARCAN nasal spray. NARCAN is a life-saving antidote for those suffering from an opiate overdose. It is currently being made available to first responders and--in many areas, OTC to consumers as well. This latter, more radical step has been undertaken due to the severity of the opiate crisis in the US at this time.

It used to be that heroin addicts were thrown in jail and received little sympathy from the public at large. However, as the demographics of the epidemic have shifted--from poor and minority in cities to whites in the suburbs--approaches to addiction have also shifted.

While some still advocate for "letting addicts die" or locking them up for long, mandatory-minimum jail sentences, many politicians and law enforcement officials have begun to emphasize treatment and harm reduction measures-- like Opiant's NARCAN and other forms of the drug which can help addicts recover--long-favored by academics, social workers and drug-policy reform advocates.

Opiant CEO Roger Crystal recently testified to the US President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, where industry experts and advocates came together to discuss strategies to combat and treat drug abuse, addiction and the opioid epidemic. He noted at that time that

this gathering of experts further strengthened our resolve to continue the advancement of our pipeline of addiction therapies, Fiscal 2017 was a transformational year for Opiant, marked by a significant increase in sales of NARCAN® Nasal Spray. We expect fiscal 2018 will be another exciting year, and we believe we are well positioned to execute on our mission to develop novel therapeutics that transform the lives of patients with addictions.

Below is our latest data for Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPNT):

ValuEngine updated its recommendation from BUY to STRONG BUY for Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPNT) on 2017-10-20. Based on the information we have gathered and our resulting research, we feel that Opiant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPNT) has the probability to OUTPERFORM average market performance for the next year. The company exhibits ATTRACTIVE Momentum and P/E Ratio.

 

Valuation & Rankings
Valuation	104.88% overvalued	Valuation Rank(?)	2
1-M Forecast Return	1.12%	1-M Forecast Return Rank	99
12-M Return	290.24%	Momentum Rank(?)	99
Sharpe Ratio	0.74	Sharpe Ratio Rank(?)	83
5-Y Avg Annual Return	86.84%	5-Y Avg Annual Rtn Rank	100
Volatility	116.80%	Volatility Rank(?)	10
Expected EPS Growth	-266.18%	EPS Growth Rank(?)	1
Market Cap (billions)	0.06	Size Rank	27
Trailing P/E Ratio	13.93	Trailing P/E Rank(?)	83
Forward P/E Ratio	n/a	Forward P/E Ratio Rank	n/a
PEG Ratio	n/a	PEG Ratio Rank	n/a
Price/Sales	3.36	Price/Sales Rank(?)	34
Market/Book	14.54	Market/Book Rank(?)	11
Beta	0.09	Beta Rank	76
Alpha	1.43	Alpha Rank	100