Archive for August, 2011

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Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) gets lift from patent sale speculation

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) shares rallied 11.5% to $3.00, a day after The Wall Street Journal reported the company had begun exploring a possible sale of digital-imaging patents. Volume for the stock totaled 58.7 million shares, crushing a daily average of 13.1 million.

The Journal reported Wednesday that Kodak, through investment firm Lazard, had begun shopping around a portfolio of 1,100 patents. Kodak advertised the move a month ago, but investors appear to be paying closer attention now that Google Inc. said it would pay $12.5 billion to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., chiefly for its patents.

The Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported the patents have drawn interest from a “strategic buyer in the wireless industry looking to use the patents for defensive protection.”

Kodak declined to comment on the patent sale.

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DARA Biosciences Inc. (DARA) prospers from new pain drug

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

DARA Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: DARA) shares climbed 23.3% to $2.81, on word of a fast-tracking for its new pain drug. Volume for the stock topped 835,000 shares Thursday morning, crushing its all-day average of 28,000.

A news release out August 18 revealed that the Raleigh, North Carolina-based DARA announced today that its investigational drug KRN5500 has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain in patients with cancer.

The FDA’s Fast Track program is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new drugs that are intended to treat serious or life threatening conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address the unmet medical need (Fast Track Drugs). The purpose of the program is to get important drugs to the patient earlier.

New Drug Applications (NDA) for products in the Fast Track program normally receive priority review.

The same release quoted DARA CEO Richard Franco as saying, “the FDA Fast Track designation for KRN5500 is a significant positive step for the thousands of cancer patients who suffer this unremitting pain from a number of causes including from their chemotherapy.

“This is a most serious condition in need of new treatment options,” Franco continued. “Current estimates show as many as 40-50% of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy endure this condition and a certain portion of these patients endure relentless chronic pain requiring treatment even after they recover from their cancer. CIPN is also a dose limiting side effect of many commonly used chemotherapeutics. We are very encouraged by the initial clinical results, our partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and now the FDA Fast Track Drug status,” he added.

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Unilife Corporation (UNIS) stock rockets on CEO buyback

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Unilife Corporation (NASDAQ: UNIS) shares zoomed 12.9% to $4.20, on word the company’s CEO plans to buy back up to $1 million in shares this week. Volume for the stock totaled 232,000 shares, lagging an all-day average of 258,000.

A news release out Wednesday announced that Unilife’s CEO, Alan Shortall, intends to purchase $500,000 in shares of the company’s common stock over the next week. Shortall intends to begin purchasing these shares this week at market prices within 48 hours.

Furthermore, Mr. Shortall has advised the Board of Directors of Unilife that he intends to purchase up to an additional U.S. $500,000 of the Company’s common stock between now and September 30, 2011. Mr. Shortall intends to provide twenty-four hours advance notice to U.S. markets before purchasing these additional Unilife shares.

Shortall is the largest shareholder in Unilife. These upcoming purchases by Shortall follow his most recent open market purchases of more than U.S. $500,000 in Unilife shares, which were completed in mid-March 2011 at an average price equivalent to $4.80 per share of common stock.

Shortall was quoted in the release as saying, “I believe that this is an excellent time to purchase shares in Unilife, and to further align my own personal interests to that of my fellow shareholders. In my opinion, Unilife has never had a brighter business future than what we see today. We remain on track with our strategic plan to become a global leader in advanced drug delivery systems. As such, I intend to increase my personal investment in the Company.”

Unilife Corporation is a U.S.-based developer, manufacturer and supplier of advanced drug delivery systems with state-of-the-art facilities in York, Pennsylvania.

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MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (MKTX) hits stock high amid takeover rumors

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX) shares gained 14.3% to $27.48, after The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported on its website that the operator of an electronic bond-trading platform might be on the auction block. Volume for the stock was 1.7 million shares, or about 11 times its normal daily volume.

The Journal piece, citing folks close to the situation and substantiated Wednesday by Reuters, said that if MarketAxess decides on a sale, the company could fetch around $1.5 billion.

Though the names of the interested parties are not known, potential bidders might include Bloomberg LP, SunGard Data Systems BAINSD.UL and private equity players, said Niamh Alexander, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

“We also consider exchanges but the price might be relatively high for them, nonetheless an all-cash transaction by ICE or CME could still be accretive,” Alexander said in the Reuters story.

MarketAxess is big in electronic trading of corporate bonds and is making headway in credit derivatives ahead of planned regulations that will shift more of that market toward venues like MarketAxess.

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Zagg Inc. (ZAGG) zooms higher on bottom line

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Zagg Inc. (Nasdaq: ZAGG) shares climbed 6.6% to $15.70, on Monday after the maker of cellphones and accessories related to Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) products hiked its 2011 revenue forecast and came out with second-quarter figures. Volume for the stock surpassed 5.4 million shares, compared to a daily average of 2.2 million.

A news release out August 15, declared that revenue for the second quarter was $38.8 million, a 158% increase from $15.1 million in the second quarter of 2010 and a 44% sequential increase as compared to $27.0 million in the first quarter of 2011. These results include nine days of iFrogz revenue of $2.4 million, having been acquired during the quarter on June 21, 2011. Revenue by channel was 72% indirect and 22% from the ZAGG.com website.

Gross profit for the second quarter was $17.8 million, versus $7.5 million in Q2 2010 and $13.6 million from the previous quarter, which translates into gross margin for the quarter of 46%, versus 50% for Q2 2010 and 51% in the previous quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was in line with ZAGG’s guidance, but down year over year due to the required write up of iFrogz inventory, a product mix shift for iFrogz, additional shipping charges to meet higher than expected demand for iFrogz product, and an increase in obsolescence charges for ZAGG inventory.

The same release quoted CEO Robert Pedersen as saying, “ZAGG’s operational performance in the quarter was extremely strong. During the second quarter we saw revenue growth due to our expanding retail channel, and the increase in product we are putting into the channel. The market for smartphones and tablets continues to rapidly expand, and we are well positioned as a leading accessories provider, especially since our acquisition of iFrogz, which broadens our product offering, expands our distribution to new channels and brings the youth demographic into our mix.

“We are excited about the roll out of iFrogz product on our website, as well as the expansion of our tablet keyboard offerings with the ZAGGfolio™ and the new ZAGGkeys™ SOLO™. We feel that these additions will have an immediate impact to our online sales.”

The Company is raising its 2011 guidance for revenues to $160 million – $170 million, from a previous range of $105 million – $110 million, to reflect an improved outlook for the sale of its products as a result of expanding distribution and increased product offerings, and the acquisition of iFrogz.

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