Scilex Holding Company announced that its indirect subsidiary, ACEA Therapeutics, Inc., has entered into a definitive stock acquisition agreement with Phoenix Asia Holdings Limited. Under the agreement, ACEA Thera will transfer and sell 100% of the equity interests of ACEA Pharma, Inc. to Phoenix in exchange for 100,000,000 newly-issued ordinary shares of Phoenix, valued at $1 billion. Upon closing, Phoenix will be renamed ACEA Pharma, Inc., and its common stock is expected to be listed on Nasdaq, with ACEA Thera owning approximately 82% of the Go-Forward Company.
Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) saw its shares trade up 0.6% to $8.31, despite significant quarterly misses in both EPS and revenue, failing to meet analyst expectations. The stock is currently trading well below its 50- and 200-day moving averages, and analysts maintain a "Reduce" rating with an average target price of $630.00. Institutional ownership in Scilex has increased, with hedge funds like Renaissance Technologies and Armistice Capital significantly raising their stakes, bringing institutional ownership to 69.67%.
Scilex Holding Company (NASDAQ:SCLX) has seen its stock price drop by 26% in the last month, resulting in a 20% decline over the past year. Despite this, its current price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.9x is significantly lower than the broader Pharmaceuticals industry average of 4.3x, suggesting it might be undervalued. However, the low P/S ratio could be due to a recent 27% decline in revenue, even though future analyst forecasts predict a 162% annual revenue growth for the next three years, outpacing the industry's 31% forecast.
