Tag Archives: request

Gilead Sciences Stock Rises As Analysts Still Like HCV Franchise

Big biotech Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) hit a two-month high Monday after two analysts delivered bullish outlooks for the company. On Sunday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee lifted his Q1 EPS estimates due to a stock buyback and noted several recent pieces of “incremental” good news. For one, he cited late Friday the successful patent suit brought by Merck ( MRK ) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals ( IONS ), which had resulted in a somewhat lower damages award ($200 million) than Wall Street had expected. He also noted that weekly prescription data from IMS Health ( IMS ) suggest Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, were holding up reasonably well in the face of competition from Merck’s Zepatier, which launched in late January. This point was made more emphatically Monday in a research note by Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges, who called Merck a “pretender to the HCV (hepatitis C virus) throne.” Porges noted that a survey of top payer plans backed this up. “Seven weeks after the launch of Zepatier, Sovaldi and Harvoni retain a relatively favorable position in 65% of the top 20 largest commercial plans and 70% of the top 10 largest government plans relative to AbbVie ’s ( ABBV ) Viekira Pak (20%, 30%, respectively) and Zepatier (0%, 10%),” Porges wrote. “Further, in the top 20 Medicare plans, while Harvoni is covered by 100% of plans, 85% of plans do not cover Viekira Pak, and none cover Zepatier.” Porges affirmed his outperform rating on Gilead stock, with a price target of 127. In midday trading on the stock market today , Gilead stock was up more than 2%, near 93, and earlier rose above 94. The stock has climbed about 14% from the 20-month low it hit on Feb. 2, but still has a weak IBD Relative Strength Rating of 29, meaning the stock’s performed in the lowest 29% of all stocks the past 12 months, with an emphasis on the most recent six months. Merck stock was down a fraction midday Monday.

Comcast X1 Promotions Seen Boosting Q1 Video Additions

Aggressive promotions by Comcast ( CMCSA ) tied to its rollout of Xfinity-branded TV services and X1 set-top boxes will boost first-quarter video subscriber additions, says a bullish Macquarie Research research report. Analyst Amy Yong forecasts that Comcast, the nation’s No. 1 cable TV firm, will post a net add of 32,000 video customers in Q1, compared with an 8,000-subscriber loss in Q1 2015. At a Morgan Stanley conference on March 1, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts signaled that the company could have a strong Q1. Comcast has been promoting X1 “double-play” bundles that offer TV and broadband for $80 monthly, plus taxes and fees, and triple-play packages that include phone services and start at $90 monthly, says the Macquarie analyst. “We are increasing our Q1 video net add assumptions to 32,000 from (minus) 1,000 on the back of recent commentary,” wrote Yong. “Management continues to reinvigorate the product set by rolling out X1 double/triple play starting at $80 per month and $90 per month, respectively. Other current initiatives include Xfinity Internet+ Premium Streaming for $45 per month.” Comcast stock was flat in morning in the stock market today , near 60. Comcast shares are up 6% in 2016 but are down 8% from their all-time high of 65, touched last July. Worries that Comcast will spend big to buy airwaves in a government auction of radio spectrum have been a stock overhang. Comcast has an IBD Composite Rating of 88 out of a possible 99, putting it among the top 12% of all stocks on such metrics as sales and earnings growth. Comcast lost 36,000 video subscribers in 2015, but it gained 89,000 in Q4, marking its best quarter in nine years. The gains have come despite continued cord-cutting by young adults, who have shifted to Internet video from providers such as Netflix ( NFLX ). Some 30% of Comcast’s video customers — more than 7 million — were using X1 set-top boxes as of Jan. 1. By year-end, Comcast expects at least half of its 22 million video subscribers will be using Internet-ready X1 set-top boxes in their homes. The X1 entertainment platform provides access to live broadcast, on-demand video and DVR-stored content. DVR-stored content is in the Internet cloud, not the set-top. Analysts say that Comcast has put a lot of work into developing a cloud-based TV channel guide and user interface, a voice-controlled remote, programming recommendations, on-screen sports app and social media features for sharing video. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) last week said that it would resell Comcast services at a new online cable store. “On the promotional side, we see the deal with Amazon.com as another creative distribution outlet,” added Yong.

Alder BioPharma Migraine Drug Scores In Trial; Stock Spikes

Small biotech Alder BioPharmaceuticals ( ALDR ) soared more than 50% to a two-month high in early trading Monday after its migraine drug candidate succeeded in a mid-stage trial, positioning it to compete with some giant rivals. Alder said that a single intravenous infusion of its monoclonal antibody, ALD403, had significantly reduced migraine days over a 12-week period compared to a placebo. Depending on the dose, between 44% and 57% of patients experienced a 50% reduction in migraine days, while 27% to 33% experienced a 75% reduction. “Evaluation of ALD403 continues to exhibit a potential best-in-class profile, which includes immediate, significant and durable migraine prevention with infrequent quarterly dosing,” Alder CEO Randall Schatzman said in a statement. “With our commitment to the accelerated development of ALD403 reinforced by today’s positive results, we look forward to advancing our development plan, and assuming FDA approval, independently marketing ALD403 in the U.S. to meet the critical medical needs of the 13 million patients nationwide who are candidates for migraine prevention therapy.” Alder’s decision to market its drug without a big-pharma partner, unusual for a small biotech, could pit it against some very big competitors developing similar drugs. ALD403 is an anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) antibody, similar to migraine candidates being developed by Amgen ( AMGN ), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( TEVA ) and Eli Lilly ( LLY ). Alder’s drug is distinguished by its infrequent dosing: Amgen and Teva’s drugs are injected once a month, while Lilly’s is biweekly. It would also be competing against Allergan ‘s ( AGN ) Botox, which is also quarterly but involves 31 separate shots. Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan wrote that ALD403’s results seem roughly equivalent to Teva’s in terms of effectiveness, but he did note that there was no significant improvement over the placebo in the number of patients who experienced a 100% reduction in migraine days. Between 4% and 8% of patients on the drug achieved this, which was rather lower than the 16% who had been headache-free in a previous trial. Alder stock, like so many other biotech stocks, had lost more than half its value since touching its all-time peak of 54.90 in July. But in early trading on the stock market today , shares were was up some 52% near 26. Image provided by Shutterstock .