Canaccord Genuity has hiked its price target for GenMark Diagnostics (NASDAQ:GNMK) to $10.50 from $8. The stock closed at $9.27 on Wednesday.
After the close yesterday, GNMK announced a major milestone, achieving CE Mark for both its ePlex instrument and ePlex Respiratory Pathogen Panel, which was three weeks ahead of its recent timeline by the end of June.
“We spoke with management after the close, who confirmed they are pleased with strong levels of test performance that meet their high standards,” writes analyst Mark Massaro.
“GenMark shares have risen a sharp 75% off recent lows, and we think much of the move priced in no further delay (particularly as management affirmed their targets recently at the CVS conference three weeks ago),” he added.
Mr. Massaro said the company continues to expect to submit ePlex to the FDA by late Q3 or early Q4 of this year, which in our mind, sets up for FDA approval likely sometime in the first quarter of 2017.
GenMark has initiated installation of ePlex systems in U.S. clinical trial sites and clinical trials are ongoing and expected to be completed in the third quarter, in line with expectations.
In addition, he said GenMark has seen strong interest in the EU market, having secured 15 customer orders and will look to ramp up placements heading into the back half of 2016.
