Vicore Pharma (Buy, TP: SEK70.00) - Waiting for more data

Vicore Pharma reported Q1 earnings last week. The report was a non-event and focus in the short term will be on the next data update from the AIR trial (set for the ATS meeting) on 19 May. In addition, the planned phase IIb trial, ASPIRE, is set to commence in H1, and we believe this trial could have data read-out in 2026 and potentially be seen as a registration trial. We reiterate our BUY and SEK70 target price.

Q1 report: drumming for clear AIR

Vicore Pharma (Buy, TP: SEK70.00) - Q4 in line with expectations

We believe the Q4 report was somewhat of a non-event, and adjusted for two writedowns of intangible assets, the operating loss was in line with our forecast. For 2024, we look forward to the commencement of the phase IIb trial ASPIRE for IPF, and expect additional follow-up data from the single arm trial AIR in H1. We reiterate our BUY and SEK70 target price.

Metsa Board (Buy, TP: EUR11.00) - Scope for a revaluation

With ample evidence of improved demand for paper board and a better price outlook for market pulp, we believe earnings headwind has now turned into a tailwind. We also expect earnings to be driven by incremental volumes after capacity expansions at existing mills. After ambitious investments over the past three years, the company’s paper board capacity is up c25%, while its net long pulp position has increased by close to 30%. We have upgraded to BUY (HOLD) and raised our target price to EUR11 (7.7) on our increased estimates including higher dividends.

BioArctic (Buy, TP: SEK350.00) - Limited news on EU approval

The Q1 report was in line with expectations, with a small beat on the operating loss. The cash position at end-Q1 was nearly SEK1bn. There was limited news on the delayed EU approval (waiting on a SAG meeting). Eisai recently guided for Leqembi sales of JPY56.5bn (year to March 2025), implying royalties to BioArctic of cSEK360m. We reiterate our BUY and SEK350 target price.

Surgical Science (Buy, TP: SEK230.00) - Weaker than expected start to 2024

The weak Q1 results, with sales and adj. EBIT below our estimates, were largely due to a significant slowdown in Educational products. We have marginally revised our 2024–2026e on the strong management outlook for 2024, and reiterate our BUY and SEK230 target price. We believe the weak share price reaction on the report presents an opportunity for long-term investors.