Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXSM) shares rose 2.09% in pre-market trading on Monday despite the biopharmaceutical company reporting second-quarter earnings and revenue below Wall Street expectations, as investors focused on strong underlying product growth.
Axsome posted a quarterly loss of $0.99 per share, wider than the analyst consensus forecast for a loss of $0.85 per share.
Revenue reached $218.4 million, narrowly missing expectations of $221.9 million. However, sales increased 46% year-on-year from $150.0 million in the second quarter of last year, highlighting continued expansion across the company’s commercial portfolio.
Higher commercial spending weighs on earnings
The wider quarterly loss reflected a substantial increase in selling, general and administrative expenses, which climbed to $208.1 million from $130.3 million in the corresponding period last year.
The increase was primarily associated with commercial investment in AUVELITY, including an expansion of the sales force and launch spending related to its indication for agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Axsome also incurred additional costs supporting the commercial rollout of SYMBRAVO.
Research and development expenses, by contrast, declined to $46.2 million from $49.5 million in the prior-year quarter.
Overall, Axsome recorded a net loss of $51.3 million for the period, compared with a loss of $48.0 million in the second quarter of 2025.
AUVELITY sales climb 51% as demand strengthens
AUVELITY remained the largest contributor to Axsome’s commercial performance, generating net product sales of $180.3 million, an increase of 51% year-on-year.
SUNOSI delivered net product revenue of $35.8 million, representing growth of 20% from the same period last year.
Newly launched SYMBRAVO contributed a further $2.3 million in net product sales during the quarter.
“The second quarter was highly productive for Axsome. Our commercial business grew robustly, driven by strong underlying demand for our products,” said Herriot Tabuteau, MD, Chief Executive Officer.
Alzheimer’s agitation launch shows early momentum
Axsome launched AUVELITY in June 2026 for the treatment of agitation associated with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, expanding the commercial opportunity for one of its most important products.
Early prescription trends following the launch have been encouraging. New-to-brand prescriptions among patients aged 65 and older increased 126% during the first eight weeks following the Alzheimer’s disease agitation launch compared with the corresponding period of the previous quarter.
The early uptake provides an important indicator of the potential contribution from the expanded indication as Axsome continues investing in its commercial infrastructure.
Despite missing consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, the positive pre-market reaction suggests investors placed greater emphasis on the company’s 46% overall revenue growth, AUVELITY’s 51% sales increase and the initial momentum following its expansion into Alzheimer’s disease agitation.
Axsome Therapeutics stock price
