MannKind Reports Much Smaller Quarterly Loss

Shares of MannKind Corp. increased more than 6 percent Wednesday after the company announced its quarterly results Tuesday. The net loss for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $9.7 million, or -6 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $32.8 million, or -28 cents, in the same quarter the previous year. The lower net loss is attributable to an increase in total revenues and a decrease in total expenses. Analysts on average expected per share earnings of -17 cents a share on revenue of $5.2 million, according to a Nasdaq analyst compilation. However, the Westlake Village-based biopharmaceutical company reported revenue of $16 million for the fourth quarter, a 254-percent jump from 2017’s fourth quarter of $4.5 million. That increase is attributed to a 28 percent jump in revenue for Afrezza, the company’s insulin brand. “While our sales in 2018 weren’t where we expected, we’ve made tremendous progress with advancing our company forward,” said Michael Castagna, CEO of MannKind on Tuesday’s conference call. He said one focus is “to grow our revenue in 2019,” adding that “We believe our capital allocation should get us to mid-2020.” Shares of MannKind (MNKD) closed on Wednesday up 11 cents, or 6.25 percent, to $1.87 on the Nasdaq.