Tag Archives: request

Top-Rated Inphi Follows Apple, Tesla Chip Suppliers With Breakout

Top-rated chipmaker Inphi ( IPHI ) is staging a breakout past a secondary entry point in the stock market today after receiving some positive analyst ratings. The bullish reports come as Inphi announced the immediate production availability of a new chip product for data centers’ high-speed networks. Among the wave of analyst ratings moves, Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised its price target to 40, while B. Riley initiated coverage on Inphi with a buy rating and a target of 38.50. Northland Securities raised its price target to 36 and maintained its outperform rating. Inphi shares closed Tuesday at 30.61. The stock gapped up 6.1% to 32.51 in heavy volume Wednesday, breaking out of a cup base with a 32.42 buy point intraday and hitting a new all-time high. Shares are in buy range to 34.04, which is 5% past the pivot. Last week, shares cleared a double-bottom entry at 28.54, and are now extended from that pivot. Apple, Tesla Suppliers In Buy Range Inphi’s breakout comes one week after several Apple ( AAPL ) and Tesla ( TSLA ) chip suppliers broke out. Tesla supplier Nvidia ( NVDA ) is still trading in buy range after breaking out of a cup-with-handle base last week. Nvidia shares hit a new eight-year high in above-average turnover on Wednesday, rising 1.4%. Apple supplier Microsemi ( MSCC ) is also still in buy range after its breakout from a cup-with-handle base last week. Microsemi shares are trading about 5% below their high reached in November, rising 0.2% intraday Wednesday. And fellow Apple supplier Broadcom Limited ( AVGO ) is extended from double-bottom entry cleared earlier this month, but it’s still in buy range from an alternate entry cleared last week. Broadcom shares dipped 0.6% intraday. Meanwhile, Apple shares rose 0.3% Wednesday, and Tesla slid 3.2%.

Gilead, Biogen Down On Patent Rulings; Ionis, Merck, Forward Rise

Big biotechs Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) and Biogen ( BIIB ) were both trading down Wednesday morning after receiving unfavorable patent news. Late Tuesday, Ionis Pharmaceuticals ( IONS ) said that it and its big pharma partner Merck ( MRK ) had won a case alleging that Gilead’s hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug sofosbuvir, which is sold individually as Sovaldi and as an ingredient in Harvoni, infringed on patents that Ionis and Merck had obtained from earlier research. “We used our expertise in a 1998 collaboration with Merck to discover and develop modified nucleosides that benefit patients with HCV,” said Ionis CEO Stanley Crooke in the press release . The case goes back to 2013, when sofosbuvir was on the verge of FDA approval and Merck sought a 10% royalty on sales from Gilead. Gilead sought a judgment invalidating the patents, though it conceded that it had infringed them. The case went to a jury, which ruled Tuesday that the patents were in fact valid. There was no word on damages, though Ionis said that it’s entitled to 20% of the damages. Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges said that the awards won’t be huge and that more litigating would delay them. “We continue to expect that any damages awarded in this case will be relatively modest, the equivalent of a single-digit royalty, significantly less than the 10% Merck was seeking,” Porges wrote in a research note. “In spite of whatever damages the jury awards Merck, Gilead has already indicated that it will appeal.” Ionis stock popped to an eight-week high of 46.05 early on the stock market today , though midday it was down a fraction, near 41.50. Gilead stock, though, was down more than 3% near 90, while Merck was up a fraction near 53. Patent Office Will Review Biogen’s Tecfidera Biogen stock, meanwhile, was off 1.2%, near 257, in midday trading Wednesday, after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reversed an earlier decision and decided to review a patent on Biogen’s top-selling drug, Tecfidera. Hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass filed the request for a review; last year, he launched an unusual short-selling strategy by filing such requests on a number of blockbuster drugs, which he said had “BS patents.” The USPTO initially denied his request in September, but on Tuesday it changed its tune. Coincidentally or not, European Union authorities earlier this month invalidated the European equivalent of the same patent , which expires in 2028. In addition, Forward Pharma ( FWP ) is separately challenging the patent; its stock was up 4% near 17 in midday trading Wednesday. “Today’s decision is just a first step in the (review) process, and nothing happens yet in the USA, and as of today Tecfidera still enjoys 10-year exclusivity in EU (would protect it to 2024 in EU),” wrote RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Yee in a research note. “Even though the … patent expires in February 2028, consensus did not assume this would get full protection and already assumed/expected generics to launch at some point.”

Inphi Rockets Speedy Digital Drone To Rival Apple, Amazon, Facebook

Inphi ( IPHI ) and Microsoft ‘s ( MSFT ) 100-gigabit “drone” — likely to rival infrastructures by Apple ( AAPL ), Facebook ( FB ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) — earned chipmaker Inphi at least three price-target hikes Wednesday, as shares rocketed to a record high. Midday on the stock market today , Inphi shares were up more than 6%, near 32.50, after earlier flying as much as nearly 8% to an all-time high above 33. Shares outperformed a lazy Wall Street on Wednesday that saw the S&P 500, Nasdaq composite and Dow Jones industrial average all down. Deutsche Bank analyst Ross Seymore upgraded Inphi stock to a buy rating from hold and upped his price target to 40 from 30, acknowledging the pricey entry point. Analysts with Northland and Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price targets on Inphi stock to 36 from 31, and to 40 from 38, respectively. “We have long acknowledged Inphi’s solid execution and technology position but have maintained a hold rating awaiting an opportunistic entry point,” Seymore wrote in a research report. But “the size and diversity of the growth drivers the company is addressing are too compelling to ignore.” On Tuesday, Inphi unveiled its 100G “drone,” capable of connecting multiple data centers within 80 kilometers (about 50 miles). The current industry solution is for a much slower 10G platform, says Jeff Cox, Microsoft senior director of network architecture. Microsoft sought out Inphi in 2013 to solve its data center problem, Cox told IBD. The 100G “long-haul” solution was too costly, power-consumptive and required excess space for metropolitan data transfers. But the 10G “drone” solution wasn’t fast enough. So the duo developed ColorZ, which is an industry first, according to Inphi CEO Ford Tamer. ColorZ is slated to deploy in Q3. Seymore expects Microsoft to account for 5% of Inphi’s Q4 and 2017 sales. The new product will drive growth, Seymore wrote. Linking data centers to amass cloud size — and speed — is becoming increasingly necessary. Cloud users like Apple, Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Amazon and Facebook have all expanded their online operations, Cox said. Chipmakers such as Intel ( INTC ), Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Integrated Device Technology ( IDTI ) have redoubled their data-center efforts in the past year to increase share. But Tamer says they’re at least 18 months behind Inphi. Seymore increased his 2016 estimates for Inphi to $300 million in sales and $1.37 earnings per share ex items, up 34% and 33%, respectively, vs. 2015 metrics. For 2017, he now expects $370 million and $1.70. The consensus of 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecasts $290.7 million and $1.26 for 2016, and $357.7 million and $1.62 for 2017.