Friday, September 24, 2010

Daily Markets - FDA Restricts Use Of Glaxo Drug

Daily Markets - FDA Restricts Use Of Glaxo Drug

FDA Restricts Use Of Glaxo Drug

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 03:05 PM PDT

GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK) announced recently that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted the use of its type II diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone), citing safety concerns. The use of other drugs, Avandamet and Avaglim, has also been restricted as they contain rosiglitazone.

The FDA plans to control the use of rosiglitazone containing drugs by introducing label additions. The regulatory body also wants a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program to ensure … [visit site to read more]

Apple Downgraded To Neutral

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 03:05 PM PDT

We downgrade Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Neutral from our previous Outperform rating, given the European crisis, iPhone and iPad supply chain constraints and a cannibalization effect from the iPad.

Despite the impressive first nine months of 2010, which had beaten analysts' expectations by a wide margin, Wall Street expects Apple’s revenues and earnings growth to slow down over the next few quarters.

Wall Street analysts anticipate revenue growth of 37%, 30% and 16% for the first three quarters … [visit site to read more]

McDonald’s Hikes Dividend

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:35 PM PDT

The Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) recently announced its decision to hike quarterly dividend by 6 cents to 61 cents per share. This translates into an 11.0% increase from the prior dividend. The increased dividend will be paid on December 15, 2010, to stockholders of record as on December 1, 2010. McDonald’s has a history of raising dividend every year since it paid first dividend in 1976 and brings the forward annual dividend yield as of September 23, 2010, to 3.27%. The … [visit site to read more]

Gen-Probe Files PMA For PROGENSA

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:35 PM PDT

Diagnostic products maker Gen-Probe Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRO) has submitted a Pre-market Approval (PMA) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its PROGENSA PCA3 assay, a novel molecular test designed to aid the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Gen-Probe is seeking FDA approval to use the assay to test urine specimens from men who earlier had a negative prostate biopsy.
This represents the second of the four PMA submissions that Gen-Probe plans to complete in 2010. The FDA has formally … [visit site to read more]

Visa Puts $800M In Escrow Account

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:35 PM PDT

On Tuesday, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) announced that it will deposit about $800 million to its escrow account, in order to fund its litigation costs. This action is considered equivalent to a repurchase of class B shares of the company.

Accordingly, Visa will make the deposit under its previously implemented retrospective responsibility plan (RRP), the terms of which solely affect the financials of the class B shareholders of the company. This financial impact takes place in the form of a reduction in … [visit site to read more]

Statoil Increases Its Mariner Stake

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:05 PM PDT

Norway-based Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO), a major international integrated oil and gas company, agreed to acquire an additional 20.67% stake of Nautical Petroleum Plc, in license P355, Block 9/11a of the Mariner field.
 
Statoil will pay £87.5 million (approximately $137 million) for the interest in the field and associated rights. Additionally, Nautical will also receive up to £3 million in costs from the Norwegian producer, till the final investment decision is reached in about two years. The … [visit site to read more]

ABB Wins Contract

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:05 PM PDT

ABB Ltd. (NYSE:ABB) was recently awarded a contract in southeastern Australia to work on Cadia East gold and copper project of Newcrest Mining, a renowned gold company of the world. The company will be providing electrical and automation systems for six underground mine conveyors of the largest underground mining project in Australia, expected to be completed in 2013.
Newcrest, which is the largest gold producer of Australia and ranks among the leading ten gold companies of the world, is said to … [visit site to read more]

Abbott In Kidney Treatment Deal

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 02:05 PM PDT

Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) is continuing to work on expanding its pipeline and recently entered into an agreement with Reata Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of chronic kidney disease candidate bardoxolone methyl.

Terms of the Deal

Per the agreement, Abbott Labs acquired exclusive rights for the development and commercialization of bardoxolone in ex-US territories, excluding certain Asian markets. Abbott Labs also acquired rights for the development and commercialization of … [visit site to read more]

Abiomed Posts Positive USpella Data

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:35 PM PDT

Massachusetts-based cardiac assist devices maker Abiomed (NASDAQ:ABMD) reported updated clinical data from its USpella registry at the 2010 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific meet in Washington, DC. USpella is a U.S. multicenter observational registry of Impella 2.5 (cardiac pump) patients. Abiomed announced the last update from this registry in May 2010.
 
The updated clinical results from USpella include data from 352 patients contributed by 24 U.S. and Canadian … [visit site to read more]

Edwards’ Trial Data Encouraging

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:35 PM PDT

Data from Edwards Lifesciences' (NYSE:EW) Cohort B of the PARTNER trial were published in The New England Journal of Medicine recently. The trial is targeted at those patients for whom conventional open-heart valve surgery is considered risky.

The company's transcatheter heart valve (THV) portfolio has been developed to treat heart valve diseases using catheter-based approaches compared with open surgical techniques. Edwards' product portfolio for valve replacements consists of Sapien THV … [visit site to read more]

McDermott Gets Contract From Aramco

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:35 PM PDT

McDermott International Inc. (NYSE:MDR), through one of its subsidiaries, received a Contract Release Purchase Order from Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco.  As per the deal, McDermott will work for the Abu Safah, Safahniyah, and Berri fields under the Offshore Maintain Potential Project.
 
McDermott will be working on the installation of infield flow lines, flexible laterals, power and control cables and sleds in the aforesaid fields. There will be installation of pipelines … [visit site to read more]

MetLife Units Vend Notes

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:35 PM PDT

Recently, a couple of subsidiaries of MetLife Inc. (NYSE:MET) sold off senior notes worth approximately $2 billion. According to the Reuters, on Wednesday, MetLife Global Funding I vended off its 5-year senior notes worth $850 million in the 144A private placement market. The quantum of the notes offering was increased from $800 million planned initially.

These notes carried an issue price of $99.949 with maturity on September 29, 2015. These fixed security notes are projected to have a spread of … [visit site to read more]

Noble Slates $1.1B For Tamar

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:05 PM PDT

Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE:NBL) proceeded with its Tamar Project, offshore Israel, embarking on a $1.1 billion (net to Noble) capital expenditure for the project. The gross capital expenditure for the project is estimated to reach $3.0 billion.

The project received approval from the Israeli government in August. Noble said that the project has received most of the key project components and plans to begin drilling by early 2011. Following the completion of installations and commissioning (in fourth … [visit site to read more]

Amphenol Downgraded To Neutral

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:05 PM PDT

We recently downgraded our recommendation to Neutral from Outperform for Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH), which designs, manufactures and markets electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems and coaxial and high-speed specialty cable.
Amphenol's top-line growth benefits from improved end-market demand, new product rollouts, and market share gains. Most of the end-markets are poised to grow with signs of economic recovery. Demand continues to be strong in Information Technology, … [visit site to read more]

KB Home Reports Narrower Loss

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:05 PM PDT

KB Home (NYSE:KBH) showed a narrower loss of $1.4 million or 2 cents per share in its third quarter ended August 31, 2010 compared with $66 million or 87 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. This is also an improvement from the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 15 cents per share for the quarter.

The better results were mainly attributable to higher housing revenues and lower selling, general and administrative expenses during the quarter.

Total revenues grew 9% to $501 million, mainly … [visit site to read more]

Rite Aid Reports Disappointing 2Q

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 01:05 PM PDT

Leading drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:RAD) posted higher net loss of $197.0 million in the second-quarter of fiscal 2011, compared to a loss of $116.0 million in the year-ago period. The quarterly loss per share of 23 cents was much greater than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a loss of 11 cents. The loss incurred was primarily due to a $44 million or 5 cents charge on debt modification related to the company's recent refinancing and lower sales.

Quarterly Details

Rite Aid's … [visit site to read more]

Earnings Preview: Paychex Inc.

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:35 PM PDT

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) is scheduled to announce its first quarter fiscal 2011 results on September 28, 2010, and we do not see any major variation in analyst estimates at this point.
 
Fourth Quarter Overview
 
Paychex delivered modest fourth quarter 2010 results, with EPS of 32 cents per share beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny.
 
Paychex reported fourth quarter revenues of $496.2 million, flat year over year. The slight improvement was the result of a 1.1% growth … [visit site to read more]

Priority Review For AZN Drug

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:35 PM PDT

AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) recently announced that its regulatory application for pipeline candidate, vandetanib, has been accepted for review by both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The company is looking to get vandetanib approved for the treatment of advanced medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).

In addition to accepting the regulatory submission, the FDA also granted priority review status to AstraZeneca for the drug. This means that the FDA will … [visit site to read more]

Wynn Resorts Downgraded

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:35 PM PDT

We recently downgraded our rating on Wynn Resorts Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), to Neutral from Outperform. The company along with its subsidiaries is a leading developer, owner and operator of destination casino resorts with properties in Las Vegas and Macau.
The rating downgrade is based on a host of factors such as limited diversity, slow recovery expected in the Las Vegas market and a highly competitive marketplace.
Wynn Resorts' second quarter 2010 earnings were well ahead of the Zacks Consensus … [visit site to read more]

Citi Heads For Southeast Asia

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:35 PM PDT

In an effort to expand its business in the Asian markets, particularly in the Southeast Asian regions, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has started its brokerage operations in Malaysia. The company had already begun operations in Indonesia last month and intends to spread out into the Vietnamese market. The expansions are part of Citi's strategy of recovery following the financial crisis and the government bailout.

The State of Citi

In the first half of 2010, Citi had already opened 27 new branches in … [visit site to read more]

Earnings Preview: Just A Handful Of Earnings

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:05 PM PDT

Earnings Preview 9/24/10

The second quarter earnings season is over, and now we are getting the first of the third quarter. We define any fiscal period ending in August, September and October to be the third quarter. Still, we are just talking about a trickle of reports — a total of 40 companies will announce earnings next week. However, that includes six from the S&P 500, including Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX), Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL), Walgreen's (NYSE:WAG), Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO), Micron Tech (NYSE:MU) … [visit site to read more]

Lockheed Targets Shareholder Value

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:05 PM PDT

The largest U.S. defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) in an effort to enhance value for its shareholders, hiked its quarterly dividend by 12 cents to 75 cents. This translates to a 19% increase from the prior dividend of 63 cents. The increased dividend will be paid on December 31, 2010, to stockholders of record on December 1, 2010.
 
Lockheed Martin's current annualized dividend yield of 3.52% is way above its nearest peer Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) … [visit site to read more]

Deal Win For Accenture

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 12:05 PM PDT

Technology, outsourcing and consulting major Accenture Inc. (NYSE:ACN) recently signed an application development management agreement with National Australia Group Europe ("NAGE"), a subsidiary of National Australian Bank. With the signing of this deal, the bank has extended its existing contract with Accenture for an additional three-year period extending up to 2015.
 
As per the terms of this extended agreement, Accenture will continue to provide application development and management … [visit site to read more]

CTL-Q Merger Clears 9 States Hurdle

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 11:35 AM PDT

CenturyLink's (NYSE:CTL) pending acquisition of the third-largest U.S. local phone service operator, Qwest Communications (NYSE:Q), received approval from the regulators of nine states –– California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
 
The pending merger has already been approved by shareholders of both the companies.  They have also received the antitrust clearance from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. … [visit site to read more]

Nike’s Earnings Up

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 11:35 AM PDT

Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) posted strong fiscal 2011 first-quarter earnings of $1.14 per share, which reflects a growth of 10% from the year-ago earnings of $1.04. Earnings for the quarter also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 per share. Healthy top-line growth coupled with higher gross margin and effective inventory management were the key highlights of the quarter.

Quarterly Details

Despite macroeconomic headwinds, Nike's total revenue grew 8% to $5,175 million from $4,799 million … [visit site to read more]

Hess Strengthens Libya Footprint

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 11:35 AM PDT

The U.S. oil integrated Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) won a five-year contract extension for its exploration and production license off Libya's coast. Yesterday, the Libyan government said that the contract extension is for Area 54 in the Sirte basin, about 480 kilometers off the coast. Hess acquired this license in 2005 and discovered hydrocarbons in 2008.
 
Although the government did not disclose the details of the contract, it said that the company can carry out appraisal operations as … [visit site to read more]

Televisa Wireless Venture Stalled

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 11:05 AM PDT

Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE:TV), the undisputed leader in the Mexican broadcast market, suffered yet another setback in its bid to enter the lucrative wireless market of Mexico. Yesterday, a court ruling prevented Mexico's Telecommunications Ministry from allotting a slot of wireless spectrum for which the company had bid in an auction together with its partner Nextel Mexico, a subsidiary of NII Holdings Inc. … [visit site to read more]

BHP To Invest Over A Billion

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 11:05 AM PDT

Australian mining giant, BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP) recently approved the development of the Macedon gas field in Western Australia in a joint venture with Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA). BHP Billiton has decided to invest $1.05 billion with a 71.43% share and the balance 28.57% will be contributed by Apache with $450 million.
 
The Macedon project, under BHP's control, with a capacity of 200 million standard cubic feet per day will have four offshore production wells to supply wet gas … [visit site to read more]

AMD Cuts Third Quarter Outlook

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 10:35 AM PDT

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) trimmed its third quarter guidance, citing softness in the consumer notebook markets in Western Europe and Asia.
 
The quarter, which is to end on September 25, 2010, usually experiences positive seasonality, driven by the back-to-school phenomenon. However, AMD's expectations of a 1-4% sequential revenue decline (compared to previous expectations of a sequential increase) follows Intel Corp's (NASDAQ:INTC) guidance cut last month, indicating that some other … [visit site to read more]

New Home Sales Still Dismal

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 10:30 AM PDT

New home sales in August were unchanged from July at a dismal rate of 288,000. The only good news is that July was just slightly less bad than we thought it was last month, and was revised up from 276,000. That means that July is no longer the worst month on record (back to 1963) for new home sales — that dubious honor reverts back to May.

Relative to a year ago, sales are down 28.9%. It is not like a year ago was a great time in the homebuilding industry, either. Relative to the peak of the … [visit site to read more]

Neutral On ANADIGICS

Posted: 24 Sep 2010 10:30 AM PDT

We recently reiterated our NEUTRAL recommendation on ANADIGICS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANAD), which designs and manufactures semiconductor solutions for the broadband wireless and wireline communications markets.
 
ANADIGICS is positioned in three fast-growing markets: 3G, Wi-Fi and CATV. In addition, the company is increasing its product content in markets, where multiple power amplifiers and multiple tuner ICs are needed. The continued expanded high demand for wireless connectivity in a growing number … [visit site to read more]
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