Healthcare
(WLP) These Healthcare Insurance Stocks Are Ready to Rise
by Marc Lichtenfeld, Healthcare Expert Wednesday, February 24, 2010: Issue #1203 Healthcare Reform 2.0 is here – this time without as much pork. Good thing, too. Pork is loaded with cholesterol, which increases heart disease, healthcare costs and… well, you get the idea. The...
31Jan2012 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(MYL) Mylan Incorporated – Bull of the Day
Mylan, Inc. (MYL) is one of the leading players in the US generics market. The company holds immense potential as many blockbuster drugs have begun to go off-patent and many more will lose patent exclusivity in the next few years. Moreover, we are encouraged by Mylan’s...
30Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ZOLL) ZOLL Medical Corporation – Bull of the Day
We retain our Outperform recommendation on ZOLL Medical Corp. (ZOLL) following its forecast-topping first quarter results. Revenues and earnings for the quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimates, driven by strong sales from the company’s LifeVest and temperature management...
27Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UNH) UnitedHealth Group – Bull of the Day
UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) fourth-quarter 2011 earnings came in substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, led by strong revenue growth from the UnitedHealthcare and Optum businesses, partially offset by higher medical costs. The company ended the year 2011 with...
25Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(DVA) DaVita Incorporated – Bull of the Day
We are upgrading our recommendation on DaVita, Inc. (DVA) to Outperform based on the company’s strong cash flows and strategic acquisitions. The new bundled ESRD payment system is also expected to be a long-term positive. The company’s third-quarter earnings slightly...
25Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ISRG) Intuitive Squarely Beats Earnings Expectations
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) reported fourth quarter and fiscal 2011 earnings per share of $3.75 and $12.32, respectively, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimates of $3.34 and $11.89, respectively, while surpassing the corresponding year-ago results of $3.02 and $9.47. Revenues Intuitive...
25Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ABT) Earnings Season in Full Swing – Earnings Preview
Earnings Preview 1/20/12 Earnings season will be in full swing this week. 422 firms are scheduled to report, and 117 of those will be members of the S&P 500. By the end of the week we should have a very good handle on just how weak or strong this earnings season will be. The...
24Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNJ) Mixed Earnings, Greece May Slip Markets
With nothing major on the domestic economic calendar, headlines about Greece’s as-yet unsuccessful negotiations with its bondholders to restructure its private debt may get some traction. But today’s market action will be mostly about the slew of mixed earnings reports from...
24Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNJ) Jan 24: Day of Earnings! – Economic Highlights
With nothing major on the domestic economic calendar, headlines about Greece’s as-yet unsuccessful negotiations with its bondholders to restructure its private debt may get some traction. But today’s market action will be mostly about the slew of mixed earnings reports from...
24Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(UNH) UnitedHealth Group – Bull of the Day
UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) fourth-quarter 2011 earnings came in substantially ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, led by strong revenue growth from the UnitedHealthcare and Optum businesses, partially offset by higher medical costs. The company ended the year 2011 with...
23Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(HS) HealthSpring Shareholders Approve CIGNA Merger
The acquisition of HealthSpring Inc. (HS) by CIGNA Corp. (CI) has received the approval of the former company’s shareholders. The approval came from approximately 83% of the shareholders, at a special meeting held on January 12, 2012. The acquisition was announced by...
22Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BIIB) Biogen Analyst Neutral on Shares
We recently reiterated our Neutral recommendation on Biogen Idec (BIIB). Biogen is the market leader in therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). We believe the company will continue to retain a leading position in the MS market. Biogen’s largest product, Avonex,...
21Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ILMN) Two Major Biotech Trends In 2012
by Marc Lichtenfeld, Investment U Senior Analyst Wednesday, January 18, 2012: Issue #1689 The workers at the restaurants and bars around Union Square in San Francisco have likely just about caught their breath. The 10,000 or so businesspeople who descended on the neighborhood...
19Jan2012 | InvestmentU | 0 comments | Continued(CELG) Celgene Corporation – Bull of the Day
We are maintaining our Outperform recommendation on Celgene Corp. (CELG) following impressive preliminary results disclosed for the fourth quarter (adjusted EPS up 46%) and full year 2011 (adjusted EPS up 36%). Preliminary adjusted revenues in the final quarter of 2011 came in...
18Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ARQL) Company News for January 18, 2012 – Corporate Summary
• Bio technology company ArQule Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ARQL) share prices gained 11.91% to close at $6.67 after the company’s experimental treatment for liver cancer reported a positive outcome in its Phase II trial • Share prices of discount carrier Sprint Airlines...
18Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(VPHM) ViroPharma Drug Earns Priority Review
ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) recently announced that the Canadian regulatory body has granted priority review status to the company’s new drug submission (NDS) for Cinryze. ViroPharma is seeking the drug’s approval for the treatment of prevention, pre-procedure prevention, and...
16Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(QGEN) Qiagen Expands with New Deals
In an attempt to expand its companion diagnostic portfolio for several types of new anti-cancer drugs, Qiagen (QGEN) recently entered into two different agreements with US biotech companies, namely Insight Genetics, Inc. and Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc. Through the agreement,...
13Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ITMN) InterMune Fourth Quarter Esbriet Sales Snapshot
InterMune, Inc. (ITMN) recently reported preliminary fourth quarter revenue for its potential blockbuster drug Esbriet. Esbriet is approved in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The drug has been launched first in...
13Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMY) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Kicks Off 2012 Pharma Deals
The spate of acquisitions in the pharma industry continues in 2012 with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) announcing the first major deal of the new year. Major merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have taken place in the pharma sector over the last couple of years. With most...
9Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMY) Company News for January 04, 2012 – Corporate Summary
• Share prices of natural gas producer Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) gained 6.63% after the company announced it would sell a stake in five of its exploratory projects across the U.S., to Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration & Production, a unit of China Petroleum...
8Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STJ) New Year Bets from MedTech
Picking the right stock is never easy, especially in a difficult and volatile market. There are thousands of stocks to choose from and many investors eventually end up boiling the ocean. The U.S. economy continues to be cramped by a spate of headwinds including a still unstable...
6Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(ALNY) Alnylam States Preclinical Data
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALNY) recently announced pre-clinical data from a trial evaluating its pipeline candidate ALN-HTT for the treatment of Huntington’s disease (HD). ALN-HTT is a novel therapeutic product that uses the potentially revolutionary RNA (ribo nucleic...
3Jan2012 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(JNJ) Pharma & Biotech Stock Review & Outlook – Industry Outlook
With 2011 coming to an end, the pharmaceutical industry continues to face challenges like sluggish prescription trends, EU pricing pressure, intensifying generic competition, pipeline failures and limited late-stage catalysts. The next five years are expected to reflect a significant...
29Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(TEVA) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Provides In-Line 2012 Outlook
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) recently provided guidance for 2012. The company expects to earn $5.48 and $5.68 per share on total net sales of about $22 billion. Guidance was generally in line with expectations. While the Zacks Consensus Earnings Estimate, prior...
27Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(BMY) Bristol-Myers Squibb Sees Pipeline Setback
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) recently suffered a pipeline setback with its oncology candidate, brivanib, performing disappointingly in a late-stage study (BRISK-PS). The study evaluated brivanib as a combination therapy in liver cancer patients who had either failed or...
24Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(AET) Health Insurance Stock Review – December 2011 – Industry Outlook
The Health and Medical Insurance industry is an integral part of the U.S. economy. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. health expenditures account for about 18% of U.S. GDP. Money spent per person on healthcare in the United States is more than in...
15Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(MR) Mindray Medical International Limited Acquires IT Firm in China
Mindray Medical International Limited (MR), a leading Chinese medical device manufacturer, recently revealed an agreement to take a majority stake in Zhejiang Greenlander Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Greenlander”). The terms for the deal were not revealed. The...
15Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(OPTR) Optimer Pharmaceuticals Dificlir Cleared in European Union
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OPTR) and partner Astellas Pharma recently announced that their antibiotic Dificlir received approval in the European Union (EU), not belying expectations. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) cleared Dificlir for the treatment of clostridium difficile-associated...
15Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(OPTR) Optimer Pharmaceuticals Moved Down to Neutral
We recently downgraded our rating on Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OPTR) to Neutral from Outperform as we await more visibility on how the commercial launch of its sole marketed antibiotic Dificid (fidaxomicin) takes shape. Optimer launched Dificid in July 2011 in the US for...
14Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued(STJ) Christmas Gift for the Ailing Heart
Wilson Greatbatch, the self-professed “humble tinkerer” and a trailblazer in medical technology, invented the first implantable cardiac pacemaker in 1958 which kept the rhythm of millions of heartbeats and preserved countless lives across the planet. A couple of decades...
14Dec2011 | vitalstocks | 0 comments | Continued