Celgene Corp. shares shed 1.9% in active midday trade Monday, after the company released preliminary fourth-quarter and 2017 earnings results, which are expected to beat Wall Street expectations, and its plans for a $1.1 billion upfront acquisition of the biotech Impact Biomedicines. The company also expects revenue of $14.4 billion to $14.8 billion in 2018, compared with the FactSet consensus of $14.8 billion, which could explain the stock decline “as the midpoint would be slightly lighter than consensus,” Mizuho analyst Salim Syed said. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference in San Francisco on Monday, company management said it had encountered “some choppy weather, let’s say” in 2017 but emphasized its long-term trajectory. Celgene expects to launch 10 potential blockbuster drugs in the next several years, according to a company presentation, naming such therapies as ozanimod, fedratinib, JCAR017 and luspatercept, among others. Celgene shares have dropped 26% over the last three months, compared with a 7.6% rise in the S&P 500 and a 10.9% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .
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