Legend Biotech Corporation (LEGN) saw its stock plummet 5.19% in Tuesday's pre-market trading session, despite reporting a narrower first-quarter loss and strong sales for its flagship product CARVYKTI®. The unexpected drop comes as investors seem to focus on the company's widening net loss and decreased license revenue.

According to the company's first quarter 2025 financial results, Legend Biotech reported net trade sales for CARVYKTI® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel; cilta-cel) of approximately $369 million. However, the net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, increased to $100.9 million, up from $59.8 million in the same period last year. On a positive note, the adjusted net loss for Q1 2025 improved significantly to $27.0 million, compared to $85.3 million in Q1 2024.

Despite the mixed results, Legend Biotech maintains a strong financial position with $1.0 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2025. This is expected to sustain the company's operations into the second quarter of 2026. However, investors may be concerned about the decline in license revenue, which fell to $9.3 million from $12.2 million in the previous year. The company attributed this decrease to the timing of activities related to the Novartis License Agreement for the LB2102 clinical trial. The market's reaction suggests that investors may be looking for more substantial growth in revenue streams beyond CARVYKTI® sales to offset the increasing net losses.