Cytokinetics added to ‘Conviction List’ and named ‘2023 Top Pick’ at Needham

Needham analyst Serge Belanger lowered the firm’s price target on Cytokinetics (CYTK) to $58 from $60 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst also named the stock as his "Top Pick" for 2023 and added it to Needham’s "Conviction List," replacing Revance Therapeutics (RVNC). Following the recent AdCom setback for omecamtiv that should still preclude the drug’s approval and launch, Cytokinetics is now a more "attractive story" for 2023 as investor focus has to shift from a product launch to value-driving aficamten data readouts, starting with phase 2 proof-of-concept nHCM trial cohorts in the first half of 2023 and coming ahead of the top-line readout of the phase 3 SEQUOIA trial in the second half of the year, the analyst tells investors in a research note.