Daily Brief United States: Assertio Holdings, Bakkt, Corteva Inc, Digital Turbine, Fidelity National Info Serv, General Mills, Immix Biopharma Inc, Lkq Corp, SS&C Technologies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and more

• ASRT is not including the recent guideline change at American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (“ASEG”) for using indomethacin as part of their 2023 outlook allows ample room to the upside.
• ASRT had previously provided preliminary fourth quarter results. The official numbers were not much different
• Indocin has been the core of ASRT’s revenue and free cash flow. The new guidelines could become a game changing event for the drug and ASRT

• 4Q22 revenue grew 14% Y/Y in a tough market. Transacting accounts grew 11% Y/Y and digital asset conversion volumes were up 19%.
• Opex, excluding goodwill and intangible assts impairments, was $73.2 million.
• While 2022 was a difficult year for crypto, President and CEO Gavin Michael highlighted the company “delivered on our product roadmap, worked closely with our partners to go-to-market, added leading industry players to our partner network, and announced our acquisition of Apex Crypto.”

• Corteva had a strong fourth quarter and managed to deliver an all-around beat.
• Strong organic sales led to $370 million in profitability for the quarter, an increase in the margin of more than 200 basis points.
• Strong demand for new products was the primary factor in the 9% annual increase in crop protection volume.

• Digital Turbine’s Q3 results were a major disappointment as the company failed to meet the revenue expectations as well as the earnings expectations of Wall Street.
• In the quarter, revenue decreased by 25% from the prior year to $162.3 million which was unexpected.
• Regarding ad placement kinds, the company has kept a portfolio that is evenly distributed among banner, interstitial, and video ads.

• Fidelity National Information Services achieved its financial targets for the fourth quarter and delivered an all-around beat.
• In the fourth quarter, merchants increased by 2% on a constant currency basis.
• We give Fidelity National Information Services a ‘Buy’ rating with a revised target price.

• General Mills delivered a decent result for the previous quarter, surpassing the market expectations with respect to revenues and earnings.
• In the recent scenario, North America is the first priority of General Mills and they are focused on growth in its core market.
• Despite the post-pandemic situation and hurdles, the company has witnessed a decent growth in cash flow and revenue.

Immix Biopharma has expanded both its clinical and technology portfolio with the in-licensing of its first CAR-T cell therapy, NXC-201. The treatment is being investigated in a Phase Ib/II open-label study for multiple myeloma (MM) and light chain amyloidosis (ALA). The trial intends to recruit up to 100 patients and management believes positive results may potentially support early regulatory approval. In our view, NXC-201 may provide Immix with the scope to expand into new indications within oncology, particularly among hematological malignancies. NXC-201’s clinical development is being independently financed under a subsidiary of Immix (Nexcella, of which Immix owns 98%). Our valuation of Immix is US$61.5m or US$4.4 per share (previously US$55.4m or US$4.0 per share). We await further NXC-201 clinical data and communication on its development plan before including it in our valuation.

• LKQ Corporation delivered a significantly below part result in the year’s final quarter.
• Revenue declined in the quarter as compared to the last year, driven by the divestiture of PGW and FX translation.
• Organic revenue of parts and services increased but the overall top-line was below analyst expectations.

• SS&C delivered a decent result in the last quarter of 2022 despite a challenging operating environment for SS&C Technologies.
• Adjusted organic revenue was flat in line.
• In the quarter, SS&C Technologies acquired a specialized Colorado-based fund administrator, Complete Financial Ops, that focuses on private equity as well as family offices.

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals ended the year on a strong note, with full-year global CF product revenue rising 18% from 2021.
• Their mid- and late-stage clinical pipeline holds the opportunity to provide patients across 8 disease areas with potentially transformative impact.
• The management forecast for product revenue for the entire 2023 fiscal year is $9.55 billion to $9.7 billion, which, after factoring in an estimated 1.5% FX headwind, represents 7% to 9% growth year over year.