Posts Tagged ‘nasdaq’

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Martek Biosciences Corp. (MATK) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Shares of infant formula and dietary supplements maker Martek Biosciences Corp. (Nasdaq: MATK) were up as much as 18 percent from Thursday’s close, after the company announced a 14 percent increase in second quarter earnings driven by its recent acquisition of Amerifit Brands.

For the quarter ended April 30, Martek earned $12.6 million, or 37 cents per share, up from $11 million, or 33 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Excluding charges, the company said it would have earned 45 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was up 34 percent to $124 million from $92.4 million a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters  expected net income of 32 cents per share on revenue of $114.9 million.

Martek completed its $200 million buyout of Amerifit Brands in February. Branded consumer health products from the Amerifit buyout added $18 million to revenue. Sales from the company’s infant formula business rose 12 percent to $86.3 million while sales in Martek’s food and beverage business were up 52 percent to $4.5 million. Sales of products in its pregnancy and nursing, nutritional supplements and animal feeds business grew by 30 percent to $8.8 million.

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Martek Biosciences expects third-quarter net income between 33 cents and 36 cents per share on revenue between $113 million and $118 million. Analysts have forecast net income of 39 cents per share on $112.6 million in revenue, on average. For the full fiscal year, the company expects revenue between $440 million and $445 million — which tops analysts’ average $439.1 million estimate.

“The improving economy, new launches of products with Martek’s life’sDHA, growing international markets for Martek’s products and sales of Amerifit’s branded consumer health products all contributed to Martek’s record quarterly results,” said Martek’s CEO, Steve Dublin in a statement. “This year as a whole is looking strong from a revenue perspective, although revenues for the balance of 2010 are projected to be somewhat uneven on a quarter-to-quarter basis due to customer plant shutdowns for maintenance and other timing matters. Martek’s strong run rate coming out of fiscal 2010 should provide an excellent platform from which to grow as some of Martek’s new products currently in development begin to hit the market over the next eighteen months as additional consumer brands launched through Amerifit’s marketing and distribution channels.”

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Posted in Consumer Staples Stocks, Health Care Stocks | No Comments »

Exide Technologies, Inc. (XIDE) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Shares of battery maker, Exide Technologies (Nasdaq: XIDE) soared as much as 32 percent on Thursday, after the company announced fourth quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations.

For the fourth-quarter ended March 31, Exide reported net income of $40.4 million, or 53 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $64.4 million, or 85 cents a share a year earlier. Analysts were expecting Q4 earnings of 4 cents per share.

Net sales for the fiscal 2010 fourth quarter of $714.7 million compared to $654.3 million in the prior year quarter on 8.4 percent lower volumes.

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For the fiscal year ended March 31, net sales decreased 19.2% from fiscal year 2009 on 18% lower volumes. The company also dramatically cut its full-year net loss to $11.8 million or ($0.16) per share compared to a net loss of $69.5 million or ($0.92)

“While the global markets are far from stable, we are encouraged by what we are seeing as we look ahead to Fiscal 2011,” said Exide’s CEO, Gordan Ulsh in a statement. “Within both our Transportation and Industrial Energy segments, the market indicators continue to point to a firming of demand in all channels.”

The strong fourth quarter report came on the heels of the resignation of Exide’s president and chief operating officer, Edward O’Leary, who will step down on June 16th.

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Posted in Energy Stocks, Industrial Stocks, Technology Stocks | No Comments »

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Shares of drug developer, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NBIX) were up 54 percent in morning trading on Tuesday, after the company announced “statistically significant and clinically meaningful” top-line efficacy results from its Daisy PETAL phase II study of elagolix, a treatment for patients with endometriosis.

The San Diego-based company said the drug, elagolix, showed statistically significant reductions in pelvic pain during menstruation, and non-menstrual pelvic pain and dyspareunia, or painful intercourse, when compared to placebo. The US based Daisy PETAL study enrolled 137 endometriosis subjects into one of two treatment groups; elagolix 150 mg or placebo once daily for two months of treatment, in a double-blind design. Subjects are continuing for four months of open-label elagolix treatment and assessments. These top-line efficacy results are based on the ITT population of 132 women.

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Shares began rallying in after-hours trading on Monday, after the company issued its announcement.

“The Daisy PETAL study was successful, all primary and secondary efficacy endpoints were met, and provided exactly the information we need to move this program forward,” said Chris O’Brien, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Neurocrine in a statement. “We now have confirmation that the daily scales for menstrual and non-menstrual pelvic pain, developed with extensive input from the FDA and patients, function well in a clinical trial setting. These daily endpoints reflect the way women with endometriosis experience their symptoms and also demonstrate improvement with elagolix.”

Shares of NBIX have been up as much as 58 percent in the past three months.

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Posted in Health Care Stocks | 3 Comments »

AuthenTec, Inc. (AUTH) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Thursday, May 13th, 2010


Shares of identity management solutions provider, AuthenTec, Inc. (Nasdaq: AUTH) were up as much as 45 percent on Thursday after the company announced it had regained a key customer, and reported better-than-expected first quarter revenue.

Shares traded as high as $3.49, up from $2.40 at Wednesday’s close.
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The company reported a “significant design win with a leading PC OEM for 2011” and hopes to return to profitability early next year, according to Reuters.

“We believe the key customer is likely Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ),” Capstone Investments analyst Jeff Schreiner said in a note this morning. The recapture of HP-based revenue significantly alters future prospects for AuthenTec, Schreiner said upgrading the stock to “buy” from “hold.”

For the three months ended April 2, the company posted a net loss of $4.7 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a loss of $4.5 million, or 16 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding items, AuthenTec posted a loss of 8 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Revenue rose 30 percent to $9.2 million from $7 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 8 cents per share on revenue of $8.6 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

Shares of AUTH have been up as much as 45 percent over the past three months.

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Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp (RPTP) — Buzz Stock of the Day

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Shares of drug developer, Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq: RPTP) were up as much as 58 percent from Friday’s close, in morning trading today after the company announced that a mid-stage study of its liver disease drug met its main goal.


The mid-stage study had 11 adolescent patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, who were given oral doses of up to 1,000 mg of Raptor’s drug twice daily for six months, followed by a six-month post-treatment monitoring period.

The patients had at least twice normal levels of two liver enzymes that are often associated with a presence of liver problems. The patients showed a decline in the level of one enzyme — alanine transaminase (ALT) — during the treatment period, with seven of 11 patients achieving a greater than 50 percent reduction, and in six of 11, the enzyme reduced to within normal range.

Levels of the second enzyme, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), also saw significant improvements with patients seeing 41 percent reduction by the end of the treatment phase.

Raptor is also developing its drug, DR Cysteamine, for genetic disorders like cystinosis and Huntington’s disease.

C.K. Cooper and Co’s Jeffrey Cohen, who is the sole analyst covering Raptor, said Monday’s news does not change his “hold” rating on the stock.

“The net-present value of the pipeline is about $2.88,” Cohen said.

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Posted in Health Care Stocks | No Comments »

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