Picture three students turning in exams on the same day, covering the same material. Two walk away with high marks. The third has been raising his grades all semester, yet still gets flagged for summer school.
That is roughly the dynamic inside the BofA research note on biotech I received on the 13th, where Amgen (AMGN), Gilead Sciences (GILD) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) share a page but leave with very different grades. The note, published Aug. 12, walks through second-half catalysts across BofA's biotech coverage list. Gilead and Vertex both carry Buy ratings, and Vertex is one of the bank's 2026 top picks.
Amgen keeps its Underperformrating and a $317 price objective, below where its shares were already trading. That split says something about how BofA weighs momentum against pipeline risk. A strong quarter alone doesn't move a rating.
Related: AARP issues urgent call on Medicare drug costs Amgen reported second-quarter revenue of $10.1 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.29 a share, both ahead of Wall Street's forecasts. The company raised its full-year guidance immediately after, according to an earnings call transcript published by Investing.com. Shares climbed on the print and have now gained more than 20% this year, putting the stock near its 52-week high.
That kind of run usually earns a rating upgrade, not a reiterated Underperform. TD Cowen raised its own Amgen price target after the same earnings report, Investing.com noted. BofA held its ground instead, which says less about Amgen's quarter and more about what the bank thinks happens next.
BofA's valuation leans on Amgen's next generation of growth drivers, olpasiran, an experimental drug designed to lower a genetic form of bad cholesterol, and the obesity drug MariTide, rather than the commercial products already fueling those beat-and-raise quarters. Neither program has pivotal data due until 2027. BofA's own language explains the gap.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
