Category Archives: oud

Fitbit’s Latest Fitness Trackers Off To Strong Start

Wearable fitness device maker Fitbit ( FIT ) announced Thursday that it shipped more than 1 million units each of its latest products — the Fitbit Blaze smart fitness watch and Fitbit Alta fitness wristband — in their first month of availability. Fitbit stock has been depressed this year in part because investors were disappointed in the company’s products announced since the CES in January. Fitbit went public last June 18 at 20 and climbed as high as 51.90 on Aug. 5. Fitbit stock was up over 6% to above 14 in midday trading on the stock market today . Fitbit’s message on Thursday was that both new products are off to a strong start. The San Francisco-based company said its Blaze sales have exceeded the company’s internal forecasts. Some industry analysts were worried the fitness-centric watch would compare poorly to Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) more capable, yet pricier, Apple Watch. Since its launch, Fitbit Blaze has been the No. 1 best-selling device in the smartwatch and heart-monitor categories on Amazon.com ( AMZN ). Fitbit Alta also is currently one of the top-selling devices in the fitness tracker and pedometer categories on Amazon. “At Fitbit, we continue to focus on developing innovative and motivating fitness-first products that our customers love and that help them achieve their health and fitness goals,” Woody Scal, chief business officer at Fitbit, said in a statement . “The positive response we’ve received to Blaze and Alta demonstrates our continued ability to innovate and drive strong demand for Fitbit products, which is what has made and kept us the leader in the global wearables category.” The Fitbit Blaze costs $199.95. Last week, Apple cut the starting price for its Apple Watch to $299 from $349. The Fitbit Alta costs $129.95. It competes with fitness trackers from Garmin ( GRMN ), Jawbone, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and others.

Allergan Price Target Cut On Merger Delay, Weak Q1 Forecast

Drugmaker Allergan ( AGN ) got a price-target cut from Canaccord Genuity Thursday after the company hit a delay in its merger with Pfizer ( PFE ), among other issues. Analyst Corey Davis noted that on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had asked for additional information on the Pfizer-Allergan merger , which was first announced in November. The companies also have to wait until Allergan finishes divesting its generic-drug business to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( TEVA ), which itself hit a delay this month that caused Teva to push the expected closing date from Q1 to June. Pfizer and Allergan still expect to close their $160 billion merger in the second half of this year. “In the meanwhile, we are lowering our Q1 estimates (EPS drops from $3.43 to $2.89) as it’s always the weakest quarter for specialty pharma, and we feel the rest of the Street is also too high,” Davis wrote in his research note lowering his price target on Allergan stock to 320 from 340. “This has been a trend in the past several years and is partly because of the reset of Medicare Part D.” Davis added that the merger of Target ( TGT ) and CVS Health ( CVS ) should hit Allergan’s distribution business to the tune of $500 million a year, and the launch of bowel-disease drug Viberzi has increased spending. Davis wrote that he is nonetheless maintaining his buy rating due to the high likelihood that the deal will close. There has been some skepticism among investors over whether the Pfizer-Allergan deal is going to close this year — besides the signals from Allergan’s falling stock price, a buy-side survey by Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum this month found that a fifth of respondents place the odds at less than 50%. Along with the FTC’s backlog, there’s concern that the incoming president and Congress might do something to limit tax-inversion deals like this one, as some candidates have threatened to do. Pfizer’s leadership and Wall Street analysts have been more confident, however. On March 8, Deutsche Bank analyst Gregg Gilbert wrote that the gap between Pfizer’s offer price and Allergan’s stock price — then $47 — presents a buying opportunity as it will likely narrow as the deal closing nears. Allergan stock was down a fraction in morning trading on the stock market today , near 274.