Entering the promised land of profit

ICOS has flirted with — and even achieved — profits in recent quarters, but it’s just now on track to achieve a full-year profit for the first time.

All thanks to that little yellow and oblong pill known as Cialis.

This is a good reminder again of just how few biotech firms actually have made money, let alone on a regular basis. It’s still a relatively small club.

For the second quarter, ICOS made $6.1 million. That compares to a loss of $22.6 million for the same quarter last year, or $30.6 million if you account for stock option expenses, which ICOS just began doing this year.

Looking forward, thanks to stronger-than-expected Cialis sales, ICOS is looking to end the year with net income of up to $15 million, instead of a modest loss as the company had first predicted.

Here’s the story from today’s Herald: http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/08/04/100bus_icos001.cfm.

Here’s the Reuters story: http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=marketsNews&storyID=2006-08-03T203421Z_01_N03435188_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-ICOS-EARNS-UPDATE-1.XML.

Of course, what would really cheer investors is if ICOS’ shares rose substantially. On Friday, there was muted reaction to the earnings news, as shares rose only 3 percent — or less than $1 — to $23.49.