symbol
stringlengths 1
9
| title
stringlengths 1
701
| text
stringlengths 1
140k
|
|---|---|---|
WFC | NY lawmaker warns on U S financial security after SWIFT attacks | WASHINGTON Reuters Recent hacks of international banks through the SWIFT messaging system raise serious questions about cyber related risks to U S firms Representative Carolyn Maloney wrote on Monday in a letter to the country s top banking regulators that asked about measures to strengthen systems security Maloney a Democrat who represents part of Manhattan home to many people employed in finance and banking wrote to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen U S Comptroller Thomas Curry and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg that she remains deeply concerned about U S banks exposure to these new sophisticated cyber attacks The SWIFT network that allows banks to process billions of dollars in transfers each day is considered the backbone of international banking But in February criminals were able to use its messages to steal 81 million from the Bangladesh central bank Since then other thefts and acts of fraud have come to light and the Belgium based cooperative that runs the network is pressing member banks to share information about attacks Reuters has reported that Wells Fargo N WFC last year approved transfers totaling 12 million from Banco del Austro in Ecuador after receiving requests through the secure messaging system and that both banks now believe those funds were stolen by unidentified hackers Maloney who is the senior Democrat on a House subcommittee on capital markets asked the regulators what steps they had taken or will take to ensure that all U S banks have adequate security measures in place to protect against cyber attacks that involve stolen SWIFT credentials She also wanted to know how they would ensure that U S members of SWIFT are in full compliance with SWIFT s recommended security practices and policies and whether the agencies had ordered U S banks to conduct a cyber security review along the lines of the review ordered by the Bank of England In addition I believe that your agencies can play an important leadership role in the international response to these cyber attacks she wrote
Maloney is not the first to wonder how U S regulators are responding to the threats emerging through the SWIFT system Senator Tom Carper of Delaware also a Democrat last week made similar inquiries asked SWIFT and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York how they were bolstering security in the wake of the Bangladesh heist |
WFC | U S e cigarette use stalls as health concerns grow Reuters Ipsos poll | By Jilian Mincer NEW YORK Reuters Use of electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices has stalled in the United States as more Americans question their safety according to a new online Reuters Ipsos poll About 10 percent of the 9 766 adults surveyed between April 19 and May 16 use the devices the same percentage as in a similar Reuters Ipsos poll in May 2015 This year however a growing percentage of participants expressed negative attitudes toward e cigarettes Forty seven percent of respondents said vaping was not healthier than smoking conventional cigarettes compared with 38 percent who felt that way a year ago Forty three percent said they did not believe vaping could help people quit smoking compared with 39 percent who held that view in 2015 A majority of participants 66 percent say that vaping can be addictive compared with 61 percent in 2015 Additionally 49 percent said this year that it could have a similar effect to that of second hand tobacco smoke compared with 42 percent last year Graphic The growing concerns about the devices could hit their already slowing sales especially for smaller e cigarette and vaping companies Many of these brands have lost market share to big tobacco companies such as Altria and Reynolds American Inc NYSE RAI Some do not expect to survive with new U S rules to regulate the e cigarette market In some ways a move away from e cigarettes is actually positive for Altria and Reynolds said Morningstar analyst Adam Fleck pointing out it may help sustain sales of conventional cigarettes whose margins are much higher Sharra Morris 42 a mental health counselor in Moore Oklahoma started using e cigarettes in February despite some misgivings about their safety She tried vaping to help her quit smoking regular cigarettes The question now is are they really safe said Morris who likes to vape using liquids flavored to taste like Fruit Loops cereal and Snickerdoodle cookies What will they tell us in 20 years E cigarettes are metal tubes that heat liquids typically laced with nicotine and deliver vapor when inhaled The liquids come in thousands of flavors from cotton candy to pizza Use of the devices has grown quickly in the last decade with U S sales expected to reach 4 1 billion in 2016 according to Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities Sales were down 6 percent in the first quarter of 2016 however The healthcare community remains deeply divided over the devices Some healthcare experts are concerned about how little is known about the potential health risks They are especially worried about rising teen e cigarette use and fear that may get a new generation hooked on nicotine Some support them as a safer alternative to tobacco smoke for smokers who have been unable to quit Dr Michael Siegel a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health has advocated vaping as a way to wean smokers off conventional cigarettes He blames negative publicity for the growing concerns about the devices and believes most are unwarranted There have been public health scares and they are working said Siegel They are dissuading a lot of people from trying these products CHANGING ATTITUDES The U S Food and Drug Administration issued its first rules regulating e cigarettes earlier this month banning their sale and advertising to minors and requiring that manufacturers submit their products for approval At least one lawsuit has been filed in response to the new rules and more are expected Many smaller companies say the testing requirement is too burdensome because it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per product and they often manufacture dozens They say the rules favor the large players such as Altria and Reynolds Companies selling in the United States are banned from marketing the products as smoking cessation devices About three quarters of people who switch between e cigarettes and traditional cigarettes said in the Reuters Ipsos survey they tried them to quit conventional cigarettes but still smoke tobacco on occasion Many are like Michael Whittaker a 47 year old delivery driver from Halifax Massachusetts who took up vaping a few months ago I figured it might be better for me and I might smell better Now he is trying to cut back on both which is common for dual users About 80 percent of people who switch between e cigarettes and traditional cigarettes said they vape in places where regular cigarettes are prohibited such as public buildings or when I m near people who don t like tobacco smoke About half of those who currently vape or said they used e cigarettes in the past said friends and family encouraged them to try the devices The Reuters Ipsos poll has a credibility interval a measure of its accuracy of plus or minus 1 1 percentage point for all respondents and 5 6 percentage points for questions asked of people who switch between conventional and e cigarettes A concern for healthcare professionals is that while 29 percent of those who stopped vaping said in the poll they quit all nicotine products almost half returned to conventional cigarettes Of those who went back to traditional tobacco products 57 percent said they returned to conventional cigarettes because vaping was not satisfying and 10 percent said it was not convenient enough U S approved smoking cessation products and strategies include medications patches and counseling many of which are now covered by insurance
We think there are certainly more and better ways to help smokers to quit said Erika Sward of the American Lung Association When you re going to e cigarettes you re not quitting you re switching she said |
WFC | Does The Fed Track The Beveridge Curve | We don t know the answer to this question but here at Cumberland Advisors we track the Beveridge Curve every month It plots the relationship between the job openings rate and the unemployment rate According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics The economy s position on the downward sloping Beveridge Curve reflects the state of the business cycle The Beveridge Curve is useful in determining the efficiency of the labor market The job openings rate is plotted on the vertical axis and the unemployment rate is plotted on the horizontal axis Typically there is an inverse relationship between the job openings rate and the unemployment rate which causes the B curve to move either upward and to the left or downward and to the right When the unemployment rate increases and the job openings rate decreases the curve moves downward and to the right This represents a movement of the curve in a recessionary direction When the unemployment rate decreases and the job openings rate increases the curve moves upward and to the left signifying a movement of the curve in an expansionary direction When the curve moves upward and to the right this signifies a mismatch between the types of jobs that are available and the skills or location of job seekers We construct the Beveridge Curve using three different unemployment rates the U 3 U 6 and married men with spouses present We use the U 3 because it is used by the BLS as the official unemployment rate of the United States It includes people who are currently available for work and have actively searched for employment in the past four weeks We also construct a Beveridge Curve using the U 6 because we think it is the broadest measure of unemployment We believe it is a better reflection of the current state of unemployment in the U S because it includes people who are marginally attached to the labor force According to the BLS The marginally attached are divided into those not currently looking because they believe that their search would be futile so called discouraged workers and those not looking for other reasons such as family responsibilities ill health or lack of transportation These are people who would like to be employed but are no longer searching for work because they have become discouraged by their lack of training skills or experience People who would prefer to work full time but are only able to find part time positions are also included in the U 6 In addition to constructing Beveridge Curves using the U 3 and U 6 we also use the unemployment rate of married men with spouses present According to Jason Benderly of Applied Global Macro Research this rate is a consistent long term series that tells us whether there is labor cost pressure from tightness in the labor force We use December 2000 as the start date for the Beveridge Curves because that is when JOLTS was first published The JOLTS survey published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is our source for the job openings rate The BLS publishes JOLTS with a two month lag so our most recent data point is from June 2012 We have divided the Beveridge Curve into five segments Each segment is color coded and marks the beginning of a new business cycle From July 2009 to April 2012 the curve suggested economic recovery as it moved upward and to the left Recently the curve has been moving in an unusual direction From April 2012 to June 2012 the curve continued to move upward suggesting economic recovery However in June 2012 each of our three curves moved in a different direction sending a mixed message The B Curve constructed with the U 3 remained the same in June as in May because of a lack of change in the U 3 unemployment rate The increase in the U 6 unemployment rate caused the B Curve constructed with the U 6 to shift in a recessionary direction On the other hand the B Curve constructed with the unemployment rate for married men with spouses present moved in the opposite direction as a result of a decrease in this measure of unemployment The upward movement of the curves between April and June 2012 was due to an increase in the job openings rate between April and June There were 3 8 million job openings in June but the increase in job openings still has not had a positive impact on the unemployment rate The unemployment rates of the U 3 U 6 and married men with spouses present suggest that although more jobs are being created there is a mismatch between the types of positions that were available and the skills or location of the people seeking employment A study conducted by John Silvia at Wells Fargo Securities on August 9 2012 shows that the majority of the job openings occurred in the professional and business sectors The slowest growth took place in government and construction sectors The employees that work in sectors with fewer job opening such as the building construction sector may lack the skills necessary to transition to a sector with more available positions The job openings rate for July has not been published yet but the increase in the unemployment rates of the U 3 U 6 and married men with spouses present between June and July suggests that this trend will continue next month as well Will this trend continue for the rest of the year Or will we see improvement in the unemployment rates as job openings continue to rise We will find out as we continue to track the shifts in the B Curve each month |
WFC | Understanding Mortgage Rates And Regulations | The Federal Reserve has already purchased billions in mortgage backed securities via prior iterations of quantitative easing The QE infinity announced just last week is targeted at purchasing hundreds of billions more in MBS There is certainly a lot going on within the world of mortgages Not all of it is necessarily good I remain steadfast in my defense of fair and transparent markets That said it should be no surprise that more regulations do not necessarily mean better regulation While the Fed s QE operates from the proverbial 60 000 feet let s get a first hand look at what is really going on within the world of residential mortgages To do just that I welcome highlighting the writing of a regular reader The avvy Borrower is the work of a pro s pro at Independence Mortgage Company in Newport Beach CA Mortgage Costs Rise Again Ronald Reagan once said The most dangerous words were I m from the gub ment and I m here to hep you In the past few years the Congress has passed more laws attempting to regulate a style of mortgage originator that does not exist anymore The lawmakers still think that the sub prime industry is alive and well and needs to be put out of business Sorry That business is gone The companies are gone the people are gone and if someone tried to do a sub prime loan today there would be no one to sell it to It s as if in 1934 the Federal government were to try to regulate crime ridden bootleg liquor distribution Sorry Charlie Prohibition is over Too late Hard To RegulateI am not so na ve as to think that there weren t problems They were awful and all those guys including industry giant Countrywide had regulatory agencies that flat dropped the ball One thing you can learn from that is that it is hard for regulators to do their job with large companies There is simply too much going on there are too few regulators and they were all chasing other targets But it s easy to beat up on the small guys Recently they have really come down hard on what is left of the mortgage brokerage industry The industry has been reduced by at least 50 and of the 36 000 companies that are by some counts still alive 53 are one man shops like mine The other half generally speaking still qualify as what would be defined as small businesses From a regulatory standpoint it is easier to get compliance for a bunch of weak small businesses The big guys like Wells Fargo BofA Chase and Citicorp all spend literally billions of dollars in attempting to influence legislation and keep regulators off their backs How much can I spend In 2010 we got the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act S A F E Act Doesn t that sound wonderful Safe and fair Basically what that did was to duplicate the education and licensing responsibilities of the 49 state agencies that licensed mortgage brokers The 50th state Alaska had legislators who felt that their modest 722 000 residents were safe enough Note that the population of our largest state is about one fourth of the population of my home area Orange County We have 3 000 000 residents crammed into California s second smallest County Whatever the SAFE Act costs me about 700 per year in new fees in addition to the State license fees I must still pay So my costs go up The next was the 2010 introduction of the revised Good Faith Estimate It generated new forms that no one understands It also generated Compliance Departments in every lender because they are still responsible for proper disclosure These departments are usually staffed by a half dozen new people but they learn enough to tell me I did it wrong Those lenders pass on their additional costs by raising their fees to consumers Appraisals must now be ordered through Appraisal Management Companies who tack on their fees Appraisals now cost the borrowers from 100 to 150 more although the actual appraiser makes less money than he did before Remember the payroll tax cut It reduced the employee paid portion of Social Security Tax from 6 2 to 4 2 For someone with an annual income of 50 000 it put an additional 1000 in their take home pay Congress was hoping that they would go spend it and help stimulate the economy How did Congress pay for it Congress instructed the Federal Housing Finance Agency that supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their guarantee fees or g fees by 10 basis points or one tenth of a percent On a nationwide average loan size of 200 000 that adds 200 per year in interest cost to lenders and is passed directly along to consumers That takes some of the fun out of the 1 000 payroll tax cut It Ads Up 200 per borrower doesn t sound like much but when the total loan volume is close to 1 trillion this means the total take is 1 billion What s more it doesn t go to Fannie and Freddie It is sent directly to the U S Treasury You can call it what you want but I think that it is a TAX The payroll tax cut is now set to expire at the end of this year but the increase in mortgage rates is scheduled to go on for ten years Now why Congress felt borrowers ought to pay for this payroll tax cut I cannot surmise I guess it looked too much like a piggy bank to pass up That s not all As Johnny Carson used to say BUT WAIT THERE S MORE On August 31 FHFA announced ANOTHER 10 basis point increase That s another 200 added to the annual cost of a mortgage and another 1 billion to the Treasury There is not another payroll tax cut so why this increase Here is the press release These changes will move Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pricing closer to the level one might expect to see if mortgage credit risk was borne solely by private capital said Edward J DeMarco Acting Director of FHFA First you can see that this action is DIRECTLY THE OPPOSITE of what the Federal Reserve is trying to do keep rates low Second any increase in borrowing costs helps stall the housing recovery HELLOOOO Obviously this hasn t been well thought out What Private Capital Market Third it presupposes that there is a private capital market standing by on the sidelines just waiting for an opportunity to jump into the mortgage market THERE IS NO PRIVATE CAPITAL MARKET Fannie and Freddie and the FHA and VA own some 95 of the domestic mortgage market The only private loans are those done on Jumbo loans and those loans are a lot more than one tenth of one percent higher than Fannie Freddie s rates The next step in the logical process they are following would be to keep increasing rates until the private capital market were to wake up from its current slumber That will obviously do wonders for the housing industry Clueless In D C It s all BS but all of these moves Compliance monitoring and appraisal costs and GSE fees have added significantly to the cost of a mortgage Obviously all those Washington bureaucrats didn t think that all these rules designed to protect consumers would raise costs like it has They had no clue and still don t Dodd Frank hasn t even been fully implemented yet In my next newsletter I will discuss the latest idiotic proposal that has been announced by your protector the poorly named Consumer Finance Protection Bureau You won t believe it |
WFC | Jobless Claims Treading Water Again | New filings for jobless benefits slipped a bit last week but the bigger story is that new claims appear to be stuck in neutral again It s hard to say for sure however since the weekly numbers are quite noisy But if the last few months are an indication progress in paring claims has slowed to a crawl if not ceased altogether Even so it s too soon to assume the worst the year over year change in unadjusted claims is still falling Let s back up a minute and consider today s news New claims fell 3 000 to a seasonally adjusted 382 000 last week That s near the highest levels since May and quite a move up from the post recession low mark of 352 000 in July 2012 The annual percentage change in unadjusted claims provides a clearer read on the trend however and by that measure there s still a decent signal of progress in the data New claims last week were a bit more than 7 below the year earlier level That s leaning toward the upper range of the annual pace of decline lately but it s still a respectable fall if we can keep it Worrisome But Not OminousBut let s not jump the gun here When and if jobless claims a key leading indicator are flashing red it won t be a gray area Yes the expansion s momentum has weakened lately see our Economic Trend update from earlier this week for example For now however the numbers still don t look ominous overall A bit worrisome perhaps but still well short of acute in terms of slipping over the edge New unadjusted claims continue to retreat on an annual basis a measure that strips out the seasonal and short term distortions that can and do mislead us Until we see this indicator s annual change consistently move closer to zero and above it s premature to read too much into the last few weekly data points We ve seen a little move upward in jobless claims over the last few weeks but nothing to suggest the economy is in trouble Gary Thayer chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors tells Reuters It s more the case that we are still in a period of slow growth We ve Seen It BeforeKeep in mind too that weekly claims have suffered a dry spell before without leading to a recession Not surprisingly in those cases when the weekly data was stagnating late 2010 early 2011 for example the economy continued to expand In fact there was a good reason for expecting no less back in late 2010 early 2011 via the ongoing drop year over year drop in new claims When there s a clear and conspicuous change in the trend revealed by jobless claims and other indicators you ll read it about here That s not to say that all s well or that there s a high confidence that the economy will keep growing over the next six months or year But we shouldn t go off the deep end in searching for trouble either When the warning bells are ringing loudly the shift in the cycle s direction will be obvious or at least substantially more compelling than what we re seeing today In short don t confuse cloudy weather with a hurricane The former may lead to the latter but you need more than a hunch to know when the risk is truly rising |
WFC | Pent Up Demand For New Homes Is Bringing Home Builders Back To Life | One major survey in the US that is showing some promising signs is the National Association of Home Builders Market Index Here is the definition Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for more than 20 years the NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as good fair or poor The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as high to very high average or low to very low Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor The index is clearly well below the pre recession levels but the trend is quite encouraging What is making the US home builders more optimistic all of a sudden The Fed s new monetary expansion Unlikely It certainly didn t make them jump for joy in 2010 11 as the chart above shows The answer is quite simple actually Home construction in the US has been stagnant for so long that the inventory is beginning to dwindle Over the past four years housing starts in the US have been at the lowest levels in over half a century And now the number of new single family homes for sale is also the lowest in half a century at least since 1963 when this data was first recorded Over that same period the US population has increased by over 62 over 120 mm and continues to grow see discussion With cheap existing houses for sale becoming less readily available particularly if buyers are looking for homes that haven t been trashed some buyers turn to new homes as an option The reduced inventory is now driving the NAHB index higher Home builders are finally beginning to see more demand JPMorgan We think that new home sales continued to drift higher in August Our expected pace of sales for August would be the highest since the home buyer tax credit in 2010 but it would still be quite low by historical standards The confirmation of this rising demand for new homes is now visible in the stock market as the S P Homebuilders Index touches a post recession high |
CMCSA | U S FCC pauses Comcast Time Warner merger review until January 12 | By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON Reuters U S Federal Communications Commission on Monday once again paused its review of the proposed 45 billion merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc citing delays in getting documents from Time Warner Cable The FCC is studying whether the merger which would combine the two biggest U S cable companies is in the public interest It had self imposed an informal 180 day countdown for the review which will now be paused at day 104 until January 12 The FCC said it learned this month that Time Warner Cable had improperly withheld more than 7 000 documents the regulators had requested based on an inappropriate claim of attorney client privilege The agency learned later that more than 31 000 requested documents were missing due to a vendor error Time Warner Cable submitted the privileged documents in early December but expected to deliver a revised privilege log in mid January The FCC had asked the companies to respond to its data request by September 11 After the agency reviewers expressed concern about the delays Time Warner Cable promised to produce the missing documents on Monday but the FCC said it needed extra time to study new submissions The magnitude of the errors is material and the delays in rectifying them were substantial so that the tardy productions have interfered with the commission s ability to conduct a prompt and thorough review of the pending applications FCC Media Bureau Chief William Lake wrote to the companies Washington officials on Monday The FCC had paused the review from Oct 3 to Dec 3 first for the companies to respond to a massive data request and then to deal with a dispute over confidentiality of documents related to agreements with media companies Pauses are common in large merger reviews Today s delay is a procedural issue not a substantive one Time Warner Cable spokesman Bobby Amirshahi said in a statement We already have provided the FCC more than five million pages of documents and we will continue to provide the FCC everything that they need to review this transaction Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said the companies remained on track for the review to be concluded early in 2015 We are confident that any outstanding documents will be produced to the FCC in an expedited manner she said
To read the FCC s letter see Reporting by Alina Selyukh Editing by Richard Chang |
CMCSA | Court allows Aereo to auction TV streaming technology assets | Reuters A bankruptcy court has allowed defunct video streaming company Aereo Inc to auction its TV streaming technology assets according to court papers published on Friday The U S Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan ruled on Wednesday that Aereo could sell its assets after the company reached an agreement with broadcasters over the sale process These broadcasters include CBS Corp Comcast Corp s NBC Walt Disney Co s ABC and Twenty First Century Fox Inc s Fox Under the agreement Aereo will allow the broadcasters to attend the auction of the assets and provide them a weekly update on the status of the sale process Aereo filed for bankruptcy in November five months after the U S Supreme Court said it violated broadcasters copyrights by capturing live and recorded programs on miniature antennas and transmitting them to subscribers for 8 12 a month That decision effectively closed down New York based Aereo whose business model was to offer a less expensive alternative to cable television The case is In re Aereo Inc U S Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York No 14 13200 Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru Editing by Kirti Pandey |
CMCSA | Hobbit takes third straight win at U S Canada box office | By Chris Michaud
NEW YORK Reuters The last of Peter Jackson s three Hobbit films rode to a third straight weekend atop box office charts selling an estimated 21 9 million in tickets at U S and Canadian theaters
Disney s film version of the dark Broadway musical Into The Woods claimed the No 2 spot with 19 1 million while the World War Two drama Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie finished third with 18 4 million for the Friday through Sunday period
The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies grabbed another 9 3 million from New Year s Day screenings for a four day take through Sunday of 31 2 million and has a domestic total of 220 8 million since its Dec 17 release according to estimates from tracking firm Rentrak
The new year s first weekend numbers spelled some welcome news for film studios with total ticket sales up 8 4 percent from 2014 s initial weekend
The weekend s sole new release horror film The Woman in Black 2 Angel of Death opened in fourth place with 15 1 million while another sequel Night At The Museum Secret of the Tomb rounded out the top five with 14 5 million in ticket sales
Unbroken Jolie s second directorial effort tells the real life story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini s two years as a prisoner of war in Japan
Into The Woods an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim s Broadway musical that puts a spin on children s fairy tales stars Meryl Streep Emily Blunt and Johnny Depp and has grossed 91 2 million since opening on Christmas Day
The Interview the provocative comedy blamed for triggering a massive cyberattack on Sony s movie studio which then canceled its wide Christmas Day release took in 1 1 million at theaters after Sony nearly doubled the number of independent theaters showing it to 581
The comedy about two journalists recruited by the CIA to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un starring Seth Rogen and James Franco grossed an estimated 2 8 million for its opening four day holiday weekend a week ago according to Sony
Among other year end limited releases the Clint Eastwood drama American Sniper which stars Bradley Cooper as a Navy Seal sharpshooter took in 640 000 playing in only four theaters and has earned a total of 2 2 million since its Dec 25 release Cooper is considered a front runner for a best actor Oscar nomination for the role
Comcast Corp s Universal released Unbroken Into the Woods was distributed by Walt Disney Co Time Warner Inc s Warner Bros released The Hobbit Night at the Museum Secret of the Tomb was distributed by Fox a unit of Twenty First Century Fox Independent studio Relativity released The Woman in Black 2
Reporting by Chris Michaud Editing by Kevin Liffey and Meredith Mazzilli |
CMCSA | U S regulator wants faster speeds for Internet broadband | WASHINGTON Reuters The head of the U S FCC on Wednesday proposed raising the definition of the high speed Internet to downloads at 25 megabits per second Mbps a more than a six fold increase from the current standard
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler s proposal would also require a minimum 3 Mbps upload speed to qualify as broadband according to a fact sheet shared with Reuters
U S telecommunications law gives the FCC the authority to regulate Internet service providers ISPs such as Verizon Communications Inc Comcast Corp NASDAQ CMCSA O and AT T Inc NYSE T as the agency oversees the roll out of broadband services to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion
If the proposed changes are taken into account the current access to broadband is not meeting that standard the document showed opening the door to potential FCC intervention
Wheeler on Wednesday also circulated to fellow commissioners a so called notice of inquiry asking what actions the FCC could take to accelerate broadband deployment
The FCC currently defines broadband or high speed Internet as 4 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed which Wheeler has decried as too slow for the modern needs of U S consumers
Consumers are increasingly using the Internet to stream music and videos make calls or use other services that demand faster speeds For instance Netflix recommends a 5 Mbps Internet connection speed to stream video in high definition |
CMCSA | NBC to put Super Bowl TV ads on Tumblr for digital viewers | Reuters Television network NBC will post all Super Bowl commercials that air on TV to a Tumblr page moments after they air on TV providing another way for brands to reach viewers with ads that cost up to 4 5 million for 30 seconds People who watch the Feb 1 game through NBC s live stream will see a different set of ads from what is shown on TV The page on social media site Tumblr is a way for those viewers to see all of the TV ads NBC said in a statement on Wednesday NBC a unit of Comcast Corp will stream the game halftime show and other content free of charge to computers and tablets through its NBC Sports Live Extra app and website Viewers watching the live stream will be able to click on a link to the NBC Sports Tumblr page to watch the TV ads on demand
Tumblr is a unit of Yahoo Inc |
CMCSA | Eastwood s American Sniper continues as U S box office juggernaut | By Chris Michaud NEW YORK Reuters Oscar nominated war film American Sniper continued to punish the competition at U S and Canadian box offices over the weekend selling a whopping 64 4 million in tickets according to studio estimates The film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper as a Navy Seal sharpshooter has now taken in more than 200 million in U S and Canadian theaters since opening wide on Jan 16 The Jennifer Lopez thriller The Boy Next Door finished in second place on its opening weekend with 15 million from Friday through Sunday Family film Paddington based on the series of classic children s books about a loveable bear seeking a new home came in third for a second consecutive week with 12 4 million Two other new releases Disney s Strange Magic and the Johnny Depp comedy Mortdecai opened in seventh and ninth places respectively earning just 5 5 million and 4 1 million But audiences continued to flock to see Eastwood s big hit American Sniper which Warner Bros the Time Warner Inc unit that released the film has called a cultural phenomenon after it smashed records for a drama film opening In its second week of wide release the film scored the third biggest January weekend in U S box office history according to tracking firm Rentrak and is now playing in 3 755 theaters the most ever for an R rated film Studio officials said Lopez s The Boy Next Door in which the star plays a teacher who engages in a reckless liaison with a teen aged neighbor outperformed expectations for an opening of around 12 million to 13 million With a production cost of about 4 million the film has earned nearly four times that in its first three days noted Nick Carpou president of domestic distribution for Universal Pictures the Comcast Corp unit that released it With the Super Bowl next weekend and the film having a strong female appeal it s positioned very well for counterprogramming Carpou said Rounding out the top five the R rated Josh Gad Kevin Hart comedy The Wedding Ringer took in 11 6 million while Taken 3 the third successful film in a series starring Liam Neeson as a retired CIA operative earned 7 6 million In ninth place Depp s offbeat Mortdecai which co stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor received stinging reviews and failed to earn even half of what had been expected Paddington was released by The Weinstein Company Taken 3 was distributed by Fox a unit of Twenty First Century
Fox Inc |
CMCSA | Comcast Corp Stock Appears Undervalued | Comcast Corp CMCSA initiated its first dividend in calendar year 2008 as depicted by the light blue shaded area on the historical graph below and has increased every year since With Comcast Corp s stock appearing undervalued this may be a good time for investors to evaluate this stock to possibly add to their portfolio Comcast Corporation is one of the world s leading media entertainment and communications companies Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development production and distribution of entertainment news sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal Comcast Cable is one of the nation s largest video high speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks local television station groups television production operations a major motion picture company and theme parks Earnings Determine Market Price The following earnings and price correlated F A S T Graphs clearly illustrates the importance of earnings The Earnings Growth Rate Line or True Worth Line orange line with white triangles is correlated with the historical stock price line On graph after graph the lines will move in tandem If the stock price strays away from the earnings line over or under inevitably it will come back to earnings Earnings Price Correlated Fundamentals at a Glance A quick glance at the historical earnings and price correlated FAST Graphs on Comcast Corp shows a picture of moderate undervaluation based upon the historical earnings growth rate of 26 1 and a current PE of 21 4 Analysts are forecasting the earnings growth to continue at about 14 7 therefore based on the forecasting graph below the stock appears slightly overvalued based on a lower than expected historical future earnings growth rate Comcast Corp Historical Earnings Price Dividends and Normal PE Since 2005 Performance Table Comcast CorpThe associated performance results with the earnings and price correlated graph validates the principles regarding the two components of total return capital appreciation and dividend income Dividends are included in the total return calculation and are assumed paid but not reinvested When presented separately like this the additional rate of return a dividend paying stock produces for shareholders becomes undeniably evident In addition to the 5 7 capital appreciation green circle long term shareholders of Comcast Corp assuming an initial investment of 1 000 would have received an additional 61 88 in dividends blue highlighting that increased their total return from 5 7 to 6 3 per annum versus 5 6 in the S P 500 red circle The following graph plots the historically normal PE ratio the dark blue line in conjunction with 10 year Treasury note interest Notice that the current price earnings ratio on this quality company is as low as it has been since 2005 A further indication of valuation can be seen by examining a company s current price to sales ratio relative to its historical price to sales ratio The current price to sales ratio for Comcast Corp is 1 53 which is historically low Looking to the FutureExtensive research has provided a preponderance of conclusive evidence that future long term returns are a function of two critical determinants 1 The rate of change growth rate of the company s earnings2 The price or valuation you pay to buy those earningsForecasting future earnings growth bought at sound valuations is the key to safe sound and profitable performance The Estimated Earnings and Return Calculator Tool is a simple yet powerful resource that empowers the user to calculate and run various investing scenarios that generate precise rate of return potentialities Thinking the investment through to its logical conclusion is an important component towards making sound and prudent commonsense investing decisions The consensus of 29 leading analysts purple highlighting reporting to Capital IQ forecast Comcast Corp s long term earnings growth at 16 2 orange circle Comcast Corp has medium long term debt at 37 of capital red circle Comcast Corp is currently trading at a P E of 21 4 which is inside the value corridor defined by the five orange lines of a maximum P E of 19 4 If the earnings materialize as forecast Comcast Corp s True Worth valuation would be 65 27 at the end of 2017 brown circle on EYE Chart which would be a 14 7 annual rate of return from the current price yellow highlighting Earnings Yield EstimatesDiscounted Future Cash Flows All companies derive their value from the future cash flows earnings they are capable of generating for their stakeholders over time Therefore because Earnings Determine Market Price in the long run we expect the future earnings of a company to justify the price we pay Since all investments potentially compete with all other investments it is useful to compare investing in any prospective company to that of a comparable investment in low risk Treasury bonds Comparing an investment in Comcast Corp to an equal investment in 10 year Treasury bonds illustrates that Comcast Corp s expected earnings would be 6 6 purple circle times that of the 10 Year T Bond Interest See EYE chart below This is the essence of the importance of proper valuation as a critical investing component Summary ConclusionsThis report presented essential fundamentals at a glance illustrating the past and present valuation based on earnings achievements as reported Future forecasts for earnings growth are based on the consensus of leading analysts Although with just a quick glance you can know a lot about the company it s imperative that the reader conducts their own due diligence in order to validate whether the consensus estimates seem reasonable or not Disclosure No position at the time of writing Disclaimer The opinions in this document are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell the stocks mentioned or to solicit transactions or clients Past performance of the companies discussed may not continue and the companies may not achieve the earnings growth as predicted The information in this document is believed to be accurate but under no circumstances should a person act upon the information contained within We do not recommend that anyone act upon any investment information without first consulting an investment advisor as to the suitability of such investments for his specific situation A comprehensive due diligence effort is recommended |
WFC | Dollar rebounds vs yen slips against other major currencies | By Richard Leong NEW YORK Reuters The dollar rose on Monday from its biggest weekly fall in more than seven years against the yen but softened against other major currencies in particular the euro which was helped by stronger German manufacturing data Worries over Japanese policymakers inability to stem the yen s rise pushed the dollar to an 18 month low of 106 14 yen in the first hours of Asian trade It later bounced to 106 78 yen up 0 4 percent on the day Finance Minister Taro Aso was quoted in Japanese media over the weekend as saying he viewed the yen s strength as extremely concerning stoking speculation the Bank of Japan might intervene to stem the currency s rise It contributed to the performance of the yen while we are seeing the dollar softer against other currencies said Eric Viloria currency strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities in New York The dollar index dipped 0 35 percent to 92 747 DXY after hitting its lowest since January 2015 at 92 568 The greenback has fallen since mid March after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled the Fed would proceed with further rate increases with caution The dollar s weakness intensified following the BOJ s surprise inaction on further stimulus at its policy meeting last week One can only imagine that they did not want a stronger yen but the authorities there caused it by taking no action last week Thu Lan Nguyen a strategist with Commerzbank DE CBKG in Frankfurt said of Aso s comments Last week s nearly 5 percent gain for the yen was its biggest since the 2008 crisis and pushed long bets on more gains to the highest on record This raised the risk the dollar could weaken to 100 yen some analysts said IMM FX With British markets closed for a holiday on Monday sterling reached a five month peak versus the dollar on receding worries about the Brexit referendum on June 23 The pound was last up 0 3 percent at 1 4653 Monday s data on global manufacturing supported the notion of sluggish global growth U S factory growth slowed more than expected in April while Chinese manufacturing activity expanded only marginally German factory data while marginally below forecast showed the sector grew solidly That lifted the euro to 1 1532 the highest since late August according to Reuters data
An Australian central bank meeting will be a focus on Tuesday The Aussie dollar was up 0 1 percent at 0 7615 on Monday adding to an 11 percent surge since hitting multi year lows in January |
WFC | Skipping Rio does not mean abandoning Australia says Scott | By Andrew Both CHARLOTTE North Carolina Reuters Former world number one Adam Scott says he will be glued to television coverage of the Olympic Games in August but does not plan to watch any of the golf Two weeks after announcing that he would skip the Rio Games the first prominent player to do so Scott on Wednesday spoke about his decision saying he has not abandoned Australia and feels that he represents his nation every time he competes I love watching the Olympics the swimming and athletics track and field absolutely the 2013 Masters champion told Reuters before adding that he would tune out the golf I don t need to see the same guys play four more rounds That is the sort of comment golf s ruling bodies no doubt hoped to avoid when they persuaded the International Olympic Committee to add the sport to the Games schedule for the first time since 1904 South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel both of them former major winners have followed Scott s lead in skipping Rio Scott has long said he does not believe that golf belongs in the Olympics at least not in an individual strokeplay format so instead he will spend that week with his wife and young daughter in Europe regaining his breath after a busy June July schedule that includes three major championships in seven weeks The only Australian to win the Masters Scott is not surprised that some have criticized his Olympic decision but he believes that people who question his motives do not understand Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser slammed Scott after his announcement for not showing much for your country and asked rhetorically How much money do you want in life In reply Scott said I expected someone to not understand my position some people who know me a little better understand I don t just do things for a reaction or no reason There s something behind it At an earlier news conference on Wednesday Scott spoke in greater detail about his Olympic decision The tough part was to choose not to represent Australia but I feel like I do that every week the 35 year old said I ve lived my life representing Australia and I ve tried to do the best job I can of that I ll be back in Australia at the end of the year I think I m far from abandoning my country
Scott was speaking on the eve of this week s Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Championship at Quail Hollow where Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy is the defending champion |
WFC | Fowler leads Wells Fargo as Mickelson finishes with quad | By Andrew Both CHARLOTTE North Carolina Reuters Rickie Fowler tamed lightning fast greens to vault into a one shot lead after the third round at the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Championship on Saturday The American matched the best score of the day a four under par 68 on a Quail Hollow course that turned into a beast as low humidity and a stiff breeze dried out the greens and caused nightmares for the late starters World number five Fowler who recorded his first PGA Tour victory here in 2012 will start the final round at nine under 207 with fellow American Roberto Castro 71 alone at eight under after bogeying the last Englishman Justin Rose and American James Hahn are two shots behind while halfway leader Andrew Loupe double bogeyed the brutal par four 18th to fall three strokes off the pace Phil Mickelson fared even worse at the last His hopes were literally washed away when he ran up a quadruple bogey after yanking his second shot into the creek He shot 76 to plunge eight strokes from the lead in a tie for 19th with among others Australian Adam Scott and 2015 champion Rory McIlroy whose chances of successfully defending all but disappeared Fowler has won once this year on the European Tour and had a playoff loss in the U S at the Phoenix Open It was nice to drive it well Fowler said after carrying his tee shot more than 300 yards at the par four 18th That s going to be a positive going into tomorrow And I ve continued to swing it better and better as the tournament s gone on It wasn t very good the first two days and nice to finally get into a little bit of a rhythm out there today and hopefully it s even better tomorrow Fowler added that he eagerly anticipated even tougher conditions on Sunday with the greens expected to continue to dry out after heavy rain earlier in the week You re going to have to be in control of your golf ball especially out of the fairway You re not going to be able to play this golf course out of the rough tomorrow he said McIlroy meanwhile made a monster curling 80 foot birdie putt at the 17th but the rest of his round was less impressive as he again struggled with his driver
Maybe I am a little bit too far back but at least I can go out there tomorrow and try to give it my all and try to post a good one he said after carding 73 |
WFC | Americans Hahn Castro in PGA Tour playoff in Charlotte | Reuters Americans James Hahn and Roberto Castro headed to a playoff after finishing regulation tied the lead at the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Championship in North Carolina on Sunday Hahn three putted the final hole for bogey to card two under par 70 while Castro made his par putt for a 71 at Quail Hollow They completed the 72 hole journey in nine under 279 one stroke ahead of Englishman Justin Rose |
WFC | Hahn beats Castro in playoff for second PGA Tour victory | Reuters James Hahn emerged from a slump to win the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Championship in a playoff against fellow American Roberto Castro in North Carolina on Sunday South Korean born Hahn parred the first extra hole the par four 18th sinking a four foot putt to edge Castro at Quail Hollow in Charlotte Castro made Hahn s task considerably easier by pulling his drive into the creek left of the fairway Hahn 34 who had missed eight consecutive cuts carded a closing 70 for nine under par 279 He missed a six foot putt at the 72nd hole that would have won it in regulation but made amends in the playoff to claim his second PGA Tour victory
Hahn and Castro 71 finished one shot in front of Englishman Justin Rose while Americans Phil Mickelson and Andrew Loupe third round leader Rick Fowler and defending champion Rory McElroy of Northern Ireland were two strokes back |
WFC | The company that bought Keurig is buying Krispy Kreme | A subsidiary of JAB Holding Company is buying Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for 21 a share or about 1 35 billion
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter
Krispy Kreme shares rose about 24 in premarket trading
This transaction puts us in the best possible position to continue to spread that joy to a growing number of people around the world while delivering significant value to Krispy Kreme shareholders Krispy Kreme chairman Jim Morgan said in a statement
Krispy Kreme CEO Tony Thompson last year that he wanted to increase coffee sales which made up only 5 of sales as of December
JAB in December spent 13 9 billion to buy the home brewing company It also owns Caribou Coffee and has controlling stakes in Peet s Coffee Tea
It struck a deal in 2013 to buy D E Master Blenders 1753 and it later agreed a deal with Mondelez International to combine their coffee businesses That created Jacobs Douwe Egberts which describes itself as the biggest pure play coffee company in the world
JAB also owns a stake in the consumer products company Reckitt Benckiser whose brands are as varied as Durex and Gaviscon It also has a luxury arm that houses investments in Jimmy Choo Belstaff and Bally and it owns the perfume maker Coty
Wells Fargo NYSE WFC is advising Krispy Kreme and Barclays LON BARC and BDT Company are advising JAB
Here is the press release
WINSTON SALEM N C Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc NYSE KKD Krispy Kreme or the Company and JAB Beech Inc an indirect controlled subsidiary of JAB Holding Company JAB in which BDT Capital Partners is a minority investor alongside JAB today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which JAB Beech will acquire Krispy Kreme for 21 per share in cash or a total equity value of approximately 1 35 billion The agreement which has been unanimously approved by Krispy Kreme s Board of Directors represents a premium of approximately 25 over the Company s closing stock price on May 6 2016
At the close of the transaction Krispy Kreme will be privately owned and will continue to be independently operated from Krispy Kreme s current headquarters in Winston Salem N C
Jim Morgan Chairman of the Board of Directors of Krispy Kreme commented For nearly 80 years our iconic brand has been touching and enhancing lives through the joy that isKrispy Kreme This transaction puts us in the best possible position to continue to spread that joy to a growing number of people around the world while delivering significant value to Krispy Kreme shareholders I am confident the JAB team is the right partner with whom to continue building upon our incredible legacy
Tony Thompson CEO of Krispy Kreme commented JAB s experience and industry knowledge make them the ideal partner to help grow the iconic Krispy Kreme brand throughout the world We remain focused on our long term strategy and continuing to offer our premium high quality doughnuts and sweet treats to consumers around the world We look forward to working with JAB to continue bringing the joy that is Krispy Kreme to a growing number of customers Together with our talented team and our passionate franchisees we will continue to build on the Krispy Kreme culture values and commitment to our customers and guests
Peter Harf Senior Partner at JAB commented We are thrilled to have such an iconic brand as Krispy Kreme joining the JAB portfolio This is yet another example of our commitment to investing in extraordinary brands with significant growth prospects We feel strongly that Krispy Kreme will benefit greatly from our long term focus and support for management s vision in building on the legacy of this exciting brand as an independent standalone entity |
WFC | Fender IPO Iconic Musical Brand Mediocre Fundamentals | Based in Scottsdale AZ Fender Musical Instruments FNDR scheduled a 100 million IPO with a market capitalization of 369 million at a price range mid point of 14 for Friday July 20 2012 S 1 filed UNDERWRITERS Manager Joint Managers J P Morgan William Blair Co Managers Baird Stifel Nicolaus Weisel Wells Fargo Securities SUMMARY Number 1 in terms of market share for its market FNDR is an iconic musical brand with loyal dedicated customers Some of FNDR s customers may buy the stock just because they want to own part of Fender Musical Instruments Update July 17th Looks like there s not enough Fender enthusiasts to make the IPO pop Music IPOs Lose Fender wants to IPO at a premium to Harman International in terms of price to earnings and price to book value the respective metrics for price to earnings are 26 vs 17 and price to book 3 vs 1 7 Fender can do that because the Fender brand is well known number one company in its particular segment and FNDR is an iconic brand with a loyal customer base FNDR however does have a relative high debt burden 64 of operating earnings for the March 2012 quarter went to pay interest on debt CONCLUSIONAvoid FNDR at the price range mid point of 14 The mediocre fundamentals mean more than the Fender name There is also the issue of Guitar Center DIRECTED SHARE PROGRAM 2 Directed share program The underwriters have reserved for sale at the initial public offering price up to approximately 535 714 shares of FNDR common stock being offered for sale to certain of our suppliers business partners customers distributors holders of more than 5 of our capital stock and artists with whom FNDR has relationships as well as some of FNDR s officers directors and employees and certain of their family members That means FNDR expects to IPO price to increase somewhat which is a small positive because FNDR management won t want to hurt its friends on the IPO BUSINESS FNDR is a leading global musical instruments company whose portfolio of music lifestyle brands brings the passion of music to life Since the founding of the predecessor company by Leo Fender in 1946 FNDR has built a comprehensive portfolio of brands led by the iconic Fender brand and other brands such as Squier Jackson Guild Ovation and Latin Percussion which FNDR owns and Gretsch EVH Eddie Van Halen and Takamine for which FNDR has the licensee FNDR believes that the Fender brand in particular is closely associated with the birth of rock n roll and has a strong legacy in music and in popular culture MARKET FNDR operates in the global musical instruments and accessories industry which generated 15 8 billion in global retail sales and 6 4 billion in U S retail sales in 2010 according to the December 2011 edition of Music Trades magazine The musical instruments and accessories industry generated approximately 6 6 billion in U S retail sales in 2011 according to the April 2012 edition of Music Trades magazine The categories of retail musical products that FNDR addresses including fretted instruments instrument amplifiers percussion products and general accessories generated an estimated 5 0 billion in U S retail sales in 2011 according to the April 2012 edition of Music Trades magazine MARKET SHARE In 2011 FNDR had the 1 market share by revenue in the United States in electric acoustic and bass guitars and electric and bass guitar amplifiers according to data provided by MI Sales Trak as of December 2011 In addition since the acquisition of Kaman Music Corporation now known as KMC Musicorp or KMC in 2007 FNDR believes it has been one of the largest independent distributors of musical instrument accessories in the United States PRODUCTS FNDR s broad product portfolio includes fretted instruments comprised of electric acoustic and bass guitars banjos ukuleles mandolins and resonator guitars guitar amplifiers percussion instruments and accessories DISTRIBUTION FNDR distributes its products globally in over 85 countries through what FNDR believes to be one of the largest direct to retail sales forces in the musical instruments industry in the United States Canada Europe and Mexico as well as through a network of distributors in selected international markets FNDR sells its products through independent and national music retailers mass merchants online and catalog retailers and third party distributors In fiscal 2011 FNDR generated 58 7 of gross sales before discounts and allowances from the independent channel representing over 13 000 independently owned music stores 23 5 collectively from the national channel mass merchants and online and catalog retailers and 17 8 from third party distributors GROWTH PLAN Expand product offerings Over the last two years FNDR increased the pace of new products introductions A recent example is the Fender Select line of hand crafted production guitars which FNDR introduced in January 2012 and which utilizes premium materials and are priced at a higher price point than FNDR s standard line of Fender guitars International growth FNDR intends to extend its reach to a broader global consumer base that might not otherwise be exposed to FNDR products Gross sales before discounts and allowances in markets outside of the United States grew from 81 5 million in fiscal 2001 to 329 7 million in fiscal 2011 Expand licensing and co branding activities FNDR believes that licensing utrademarks such as Fender and others builds awareness of FNDR brands and furthers a strategy of reaching new consumers while developing additional relationships with existing consumers through new products RAW MATERIAL ISSUES FNDR is subject to a variety of customs and import regulations that if not properly followed could delay or impact importation of raw materials For example in June 2011 German officials began a criminal investigation pertaining to less than 500 Fender guitars containing Brazilian rosewood fingerboards to determine if they were improperly imported into Germany between March 2010 and January 2011 FNDR is investigating whether the necks of the subject products may be replaced with materials that are not subject to the import restriction at issue One of FNDR s competitors Gibson Guitar Corp is in litigation with the U S Fish Wildlife Service or Fish Wildlife for alleged violations of the Lacey Act which regulates trade in wood and other plant products Most recently in August 2011 Fish Wildlife raided Gibson s headquarters and seized rosewood from India alleging that it was exported under an incorrect tariff code and that Gibson was not identified in importation paperwork Although FNDR believes its sourcing and importation practices are in compliance with the Lacey Act and other applicable regulations Fish Wildlife or other applicable regulators could take a different view which could restrict or prevent FNDR s use of specific types of woods from specific countries regions of the world and or subject us to fines and other penalties EMPLOYEES As of April 1 2012 FNDR had 2 787 full time and part time employees 1 555 of whom were employed in the United States Except in Mexico none FNDR s employees are represented by a labor union PRE IPO SHAREHIOLDERS Weston Presidio 43 Yamano Music Co Ltd 14 Kanda Shokai Corporation 13 William Charles Schultz and Mary Jane Schultz Trustees of the Bill and Mary Jane Schultz Family Trust 6 Servco Pacific Inc 4 6 USE OF PROCEEDS FNDR expects to net 88 million from its IPO from the sale of 7 1 million shares The proceeds are allocated to pay a portion of FNDR s term debt loan FNDR has used credit facility borrowings working capital purposes capital expenditures and to fund acquisitions of businesses and assets including the acquisition of KMC Shareholders intend to sell 3 6 million shares |
WFC | Under The Hood Dividends Beyond Stocks | Actively managed ETFs still account for a percentage of overall exchange traded products assets and the actively managed space is However the number of new entrants to the arena continues to expand giving investors ample opportunity to consider the merits of active management Some actively managed ETFs are worth a look for income investors while others provide allowing investors to gain access to multiple ETFs under one umbrella Some new actively managed ETFs do both of those things One such example is the SPDR SSgA Income Allocation ETF NYSE which debuted in late April and has thus far accumulated almost 8 9 million in assets under management INKM is home to just 18 holdings 17 of which are other SPDR funds That roster is dominated by some funds ETF investors are no doubt familiar with including the SDPR S P Dividend ETF NYSE the PDR Barclays Capital Long Corporate Term Bond ETF NYSE and the and the SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF NYSE That trio constitutes for over 40 percent of INKM s weight Other familiar funds found in INKM s lineup include the SPDR S P International Dividend ETF NYSE the SPDR Wells Fargo Preferred Stock ETF NYSE and the SPDR S P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF NYSE Overall INKM provides exposure to five asset classes Equities lead the charge at over 43 percent of the fund s weight while high grade corporate bonds command an allocation of almost 32 percent International real estate plays high yield bonds and hybrid securities such as preferred stocks account for the rest of INKM s lineup That composition speaks to INKM s income generating potential and the ETF does not disappoint on that front with a 30 day SEC yield of 4 3 percent Beyond that most of INKM s holdings particularly the ones at the top are heavily traded That gives the lightly traded ETF sufficient liquidity despite an average daily volume figure that might turn some investors off just 4 800 shares Another advantage regarding INKM that highlights the advantages of active management is that the fund managers can shift to lower risk securities during times of elevated market volatility There is a downside and it highlights an issue facing many actively managed ETFs Cost INKM charges 0 7 percent per year That is not terrible among actively managed ETFs but that is a high expense ratio in the overall ETF universe In fact owning SDY LWC and JNK individually would only cost a combined 90 basis points per year which cements the notion that there is price to pay when dealing with actively managed ETFs Remember some of INKM s fees will eat away at the fund s yield On the other hand with investors searching far and wide for yield some might be willing to pay up for INKM particularly if the fund can justify its high fees with even higher performance By The ETF Professor |
WFC | Wells Fargo Testing Long Term Resistance Again | Wells Fargo Company WFC once again is testing resistance at 34 40 34 59 This resistance was noted in this post a couple of weeks ago These resistance levels are important since they are long term resistance But looking at the short term we can see that these levels have prevented any breakout of WFC Each time WFC gets to these levels WFC reverses and moves back towards it uptrend line Just how important are these resistance levels Here is a weekly 5 year chart You can see how important these levels are A break of these levels would mean a break of 3 years of resistance for WFC If WFC breaks and closes above 34 59 it would be very bullish for this stock and bullish for XLF since WFC is the largest asset in the ETF But till this resistance level breaks this resistance level must be respected |
WFC | Fed s Zero Rate Policy Carries Significant Costs For US Households | Interest rates are low because our economy is still in a fragile recovery Bernanke told a town hall meeting in Washington with educators Lower rates are intended to restore more normal levels of employment and growth That may be true but on average a prolonged low interest rate environment has been hurting US households Here is why Many economists point to the household debt service ratio as an indication that low rates are helping consumers The ratio has declined from the bubble years roughly to the level it was in the 90s It is true that one reason for this decline is the drop in interest rates lower mortgage payments for example But it s not the only reason The US consumer has deleveraged considerably since the financial crisis reducing debt levels lower credit card balances for example and therefore lowering the debt service ratio This component of the reduction has nothing to do with lower interest rates Interest income as a percentage of disposable personal income DPI on the other hand had declined dramatically far outpacing the decline in debt service ratio Consumers are not benefiting from the lower debt burden because their savings accounts are not paying them anything In fact net household interest income interest received less interest paid is near record lows negative in dollar terms That s money coming directly out of US consumers pockets A key negative side effect of persistently low rates on households is the delay of retirement This inability of many Americans to retire on their savings because of low rates is keeping them in the workforce limiting job opportunities for younger workers In fact this increasing number of older participants in the workforce likely at the expense of the younger workers is visible in the labor participation rates broken out by age The low rate environment is not the only factor in the delay in retirement but its impact is unmistakable In a recent Wells Fargo Gallup survey one in three investors report that low interest rates have forced them to delay retirement Forty two percent of people now investing say that low rates have made them doubt that their retirement savings will last as long as they will and nearly 40 percent of retirees report reduced consumption because of low interest rates It is true that some households have been helped by record low mortgage rates But on the whole the consumer is worse off in a prolonged low interest rate environment Therefore keeping rates low over the next few years is by no means a riskless strategy for the Fed requiring a thorough cost benefit analysis There is no question however that the costs to US households will be significant |
CMCSA | Comcast says Time Warner deal going full steam ahead | By Christina Farr SAN FRANCISCO Reuters Comcast Corp s O CMCSA merger with Time Warner Cable Inc N TWC is going full steam ahead despite uncertainty around new rules governing net neutrality Comcast Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts told reporters on Wednesday
The deal which would create the largest U S cable Internet provider is in its final phases and remains on track to close he said at a Comcast press event in San Francisco
Shares of both companies fell sharply on Monday after President Barack Obama declared that Internet service providers should be regulated like public utilities touching off protests from cable and telecoms companies
Some analysts thought his comments cast uncertainty over how regulators intended to implement the principle of net neutrality and in turn cast doubt on the merger deal
We are in the final stages of public comment Sometimes things get slowed down in that phase Roberts said We are full steam ahead
Opponents to the deal have raised concerns that the sheer size of the eventually merged company would give it too much control over what Americans can watch on television and do online as Comcast boosts its power as a buyer of web and pay TV content
If approved by regulators the merger would result in a company that would serve just under 30 percent of the U S pay television video market The merged provider would also serve between 20 percent and 40 percent of U S broadband subscribers depending on whether wireless broadband offered by telecom companies is included Comcast has said
Editing by Bernard Orr |
WFC | Dollar falls against euro commodity currencies on risk appetite | By Sam Forgione NEW YORK Reuters The U S dollar hit 10 month lows against some commodity currencies on Tuesday on a growing appetite for risky assets and lost further ground to the euro after weak U S economic data reinforced views that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain dovish The Australian dollar hit 0 7827 its highest level against the dollar since last June while the New Zealand dollar touched 0 7055 also its highest since last June on the back of oil price gains The Canadian dollar hit its highest level since last July Analysts said a strike by oil workers in Kuwait which continued for a third day and nearly halved production from the OPEC member boosted crude prices and commodity currencies Concerns over China s economic growth have also diminished while the likelihood of a rapid string of Fed interest rate hikes this year has receded they said The dollar gained against the safe haven yen for a second straight day however as investors moved into riskier currencies The dollar was last up 0 28 percent against the yen at 109 11 yen People are getting a little bit more comfortable with prospects for growth said Thierry Albert Wizman global interest rates and currencies strategist at Macquarie Group Limited in New York Analysts noted that recent strength in Chinese economic data particularly in manufacturing readings have eased worries about the world s second largest economy U S housing starts data supported expectations that the pace of Fed rate hikes would be slow in turn hurting the dollar against the euro analysts said Groundbreaking decreased 8 8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1 09 million units in March the lowest level since October the Commerce Department reported It supports a more gradual path for Federal Reserve tightening said Eric Viloria currency strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities in New York in reference to the U S housing data Fed funds futures contracts on Tuesday suggested traders saw only an 18 percent probability of another Fed rate hike in June according to CME Group s FedWatch program Expectations that the European Central Bank would not announce further rate cuts in a meeting on Thursday also boosted the euro against the dollar Viloria of Wells Fargo Securities said The euro was last up 0 57 percent against the dollar at 1 1375 after hitting a six day high of 1 1385
The dollar index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies was last down 0 56 percent at 93 962 DXY |
WFC | Yen drops on rate cut talk oil climbs stocks steady | By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK Reuters The U S dollar rose to a three week high against the yen on Friday on a report of likely further monetary policy easing from the Bank of Japan while a rise in crude oil prices was offset by poor technology sector earnings leaving Wall Street stocks steady The dollar rose more than 2 0 percent against the yen to 111 80 yen its highest level since April 1 after a media report said the BOJ is considering expanding its negative rate policy to bank loans and could cut rates further A rise in oil prices helped energy stocks but disappointing earnings from top technology companies including Google s parent Alphabet weighed on the tech sector on Wall Street leaving the U S s benchmark S P 500 stock index little changed for the day Oil prices rose and notched their third straight week of gains amid upbeat sentiment over the supply glut Strong U S gasoline consumption and increasing signs of declining production around the world have underpinned the sector recently traders said Brent crude ended up 1 3 percent at 45 11 a barrel while U S crude CLc1 settled up 1 3 percent at 43 73 TECH WEAKNESS On Wall Street the S P technology sector index dropped 1 9 percent its worst decline since early February Alphabet dropped 5 4 percent to 737 77 a day after it missed Wall Street targets for first quarter profit and revenue The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 23 points or 0 12 percent to 18 003 75 the S P 500 gained 0 1 points to 2 091 58 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 39 66 points or 0 8 percent to 4 906 23 The MSCI world stock index was down 0 3 percent while the pan European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended off 0 4 percent weighed down by carmakers Daimler said it was investigating its U S FED AHEAD The Federal Reserve meets next week and healthy markets and reassuring data over the past month have left many investors wondering whether they might have been too quick in pricing out an increase in U S rates this year U S Treasury yields rose to three week highs as investors prepared for the possibility that the Fed will hint next week that an interest rate hike is on the table for June Yields have fallen since the beginning of the year on concerns about weakening U S economic growth and on rising volatility in the oil and stock markets which has led investors to lower estimates that further rate hikes are near It s looking more and more to me that we might see an increase in June said Jim Kochan chief fixed income strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Fund Management in Menomonee Falls Wisconsin
Benchmark 10 year notes fell 5 32 in price to yield 1 89 percent up from 1 87 percent on Thursday |
WFC | Capitals beat Flyers in Game Six to win series 4 2 | The Sports Xchange A goal by Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom proved the difference as the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 1 0 in Game Six on Sunday to clinch the series Washington goalie Braden Holtby stopped all 26 shots the Flyers threw his way including 11 in the third period and the Capitals escaped Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center with a 4 2 series win after finally getting a puck past Philadelphia goalie Michal Neuvirth Washington moves on to the second round where the Pittsburgh Penguins await The Capitals finally solved Neuvirth 8 59 into the second period Alex Ovechkin made a strong play to keep the puck in the offensive zone The Capitals captain moved the puck to the slot to Marcus Johansson as Backstrom camped out and readied a one timer on the right wing Johansson wasted no time and fed Backstrom for a 1 0 Washington lead which proved to be the game winning goal After losing Game Five the pressure was back on the Capitals the league s best team in the regular season They have a recent history of playoff failure having not reached the conference final despite being a top three seed three times since 2007 08 We ve come a long way from last year second year coach Barry Trotz said When I first stepped behind the bench I felt there was a little bit of nervousness in tight games I think we ve come full circle where we re comfortable being uncomfortable Holtby was at his best in the third period The 26 year old goalie and likely Vezina Trophy winner stopped chances from Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds midway through the period and stood tall when the Flyers pulled Neuvirth for an extra attacker with 1 38 to go We knew they were going to have a good push Trotz said When you get goaltending like that you ve got a chance to win every night Backstrom s goal broke a shutout streak of 106 21 for Neuvirth who had stopped 93 of 94 shots prior to that after being inserted into the lineup for Steve Mason after Game Three Nick made a pretty perfect shot and we knew it was going to have to take a perfect shot to beat Neuvirth Holtby said That was the goal we needed Added Ovechkin We just were calm and knew that if we put pressure on and play simple and play our way we re going to get one or two We made a play and Backstrom scored a huge one It kind of took the pressure off our shoulders
The Flyers scored just six goals in the six game series the fewest the Capitals have ever allowed in a best of seven series |
WFC | Stocks End Higher For First Time In Six Sessions As JPMorgan Q2 Positive | After Hours Closing Update Stocks End Higher for First Time in Six Sessions as JPMorgan Q2 Positively Surprises4 11 PM Jul 13 2012 Stocks snapped a six day losing streak rallying Friday after mostly positive quarterly results from financial heavyweights JPMorgan Chase Co and Wells Fargo Co helped overcome weaker consumer sentiment Other economic data today was supportive with domestic wholesale prices rising less than expected last month coupled with Q2 GDP in China falling to a three year low but still managing to meet expectations All 10 industry sectors in the S P 500 were at least 1 higher including hefty gains for commodity related stocks following the 7 6 rise in Q2 Chinese gross domestic product JPMorgan Chase Co JPM rose over 5 today after reporting a 5 billion profit in its Q2 overcoming a 4 4 billion loss in its synthetic credit portfolio Per share earnings were 1 21 down from 1 27 a share in the year ago quarter Revenue was 22 89 billion down from 27 41 billion last year The analyst consensus was 0 77 per share in earnings on 21 4 billion in revenue according to Capital IQ JPM Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the bank still could post record earnings this year adding he hopes it also can resume its stock buyback program by December Separately the bank said it will restate its Q1 results reducing net income by 459 million to reflect certain positions in its synthetic credit portfolio The restatement will have no impact on total earnings or revenues for JPM year to date Wells Fargo WFC rose over 3 today after posting Q2 earnings of 0 82 a share up 17 from the year ago period and beating the analyst consensus of 0 81 per share Revenue rose 0 4 to 21 3 billion trailing the Street view by 100 million In economic news consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since December with job concerns hitting results according to data released Friday by the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters The consumer sentiment index fell to a preliminary July reading of 72 from 73 2 in June Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a July reading of 73 Also today U S wholesale prices rose slightly in June climbing only 0 1 as higher costs of food trucks and appliances offset another decline in energy costs the Labor Department said Friday Economists had predicted a 0 2 decline China s economy slowed to 7 6 growth in Q2 its slowest pace in over three years but matching expert opinion The National Bureau of Statistics also reported 9 5 growth in industrial production during June 0 1 below May s 9 6 expansion Retail sales rose 13 7 last month down 0 1 from the prior month with sales of home appliances at large retailers were the bright spots rising 9 5 year over year and rebounding from a 0 5 rise in May Commodities also ended higher today Crude oil for August delivery settled 1 02 higher at 87 10 a barrel aided by new U S sanctions on Iran export imposed late yesterday August natural gas finished flat at 2 88 per 1 million BTU August natural gas closed flat at 2 88 per 1 million BTU August gold climbed 26 70 settling at 1 591 60 an ounce Here s where the markets stood at end of day Dow Jones Industrial Average up 203 82 1 62 to 12 777 09S P 500 up 22 01 1 65 to 1 356 77NASDAQ Composite up 42 28 1 48 to 2 908 47GLOBAL SENTIMENTHang Seng Index up 0 35 Shanghai China Composite Index up 0 02 FTSE 100 Index up 1 03 UPSIDE MOVERS TEAR Secures commitments from two investors to purchase 2 5 million shares priced at 3 17 each and generating about 7 9 million in overall proceeds SOL Raises FY12 shipment guidance to 2 2 gigawatts to 2 4 gigawatts up 400 megawatts from prior forecasts FEIM Fiscal Q4 revenue climbs 7 4 to 17 153 million offsetting decline in net income to 0 49 a share down 0 06 a share from the same three months ending April 30 2011 NWY Expects to exceed previous Q2 guidance with operating loss now seen shrinking to 5 million to 7 million compared with 15 1 million loss in year ago quarter PLFE Insurer receives 14 a share buyout offer from Athene Holding Ltd The 415 million deal is expected to close in Q4 pending shareholder and regulatory approval DOWNSIDE MOVERS AMPE 10 5 Prices offering of 4 6 million shares at 3 25 per share 13 below Thursday s closing price The 15 million deal is expected to close July 18 LXK Printer and imaging company cuts its Q2 earnings and revenue outlook BPI Reportedly being monitored by a higher education commission to confirm the for profit university company meets accreditation criteria IGTE Reports Q2 EPS of 0 28 missing estimates by a penny Revenue was 268 million largely in line with the 268 64 million consensus GMCR Stifel Nicolaus trims full year earnings estimate by about 20 citing decelerating pricing and increasing promotion costs |
WFC | Wells Fargo investors approve board and pay for top executives | Reuters Wells Fargo Co N WFC shareholders approved all 15 nominees to the bank s board and the pay for the company s top executives in a non binding vote at its annual general meeting on Tuesday Investors voted against two shareholder proposals one that called for an independent chairman and one that required Wells Fargo to provide a report on its lobbying activities Wells Fargo s board had recommended shareholders vote against the proposals Only 17 percent of the vote was in favor of the company requiring an independent chairman The proposal has failed for 11 years now going back to 2006 according to Proxy Monitor John Stumpf is Wells Fargo s chairman and chief executive Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services ISS had recommended investors approve all the board nominees and oppose the two shareholder proposals Glass Lewis Co another proxy adviser had also recommended investors vote in favor of all board nominees but urged Wells Fargo shareholders to install an independent chairman Shareholders also ratified KPMG as Wells Fargo s independent auditor
The meeting held in Scottsdale Arizona lasted just over half an hour |
WFC | Furyk to make PGA Tour return next week in Charlotte | Reuters Jim Furyk will end a wrist injury absence of nearly eight months when he returns to competition at next week s Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Championship in Charlotte North Carolina the PGA Tour announced on Friday The 45 year old American a 17 times winner on the U S circuit will also tee it up the following week at the PGA Tour s flagship Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida I think the recovery has been pretty good Furyk told pgatour com I think I m where I expected I m kind of working through some scar tissue in the wrist I m starting to play a little golf again I ve been a little cautious about trying to play a bunch of days in a row really trying to bring it along cautiously Furyk has been sidelined since he was forced to withdraw after just six holes at the BMW Championship last September due to a bone contusion in his left wrist In a bid to regain full health he also pulled out of the season ending Tour Championship the following week as well as the Presidents Cup team competition in South Korea in October After Furyk s wrist problem did not respond to medical treatment he decided to have surgery on it in early February Having now spent more than seven months on the sidelines his world ranking has slipped to 24th from a career high of world number two
Furyk had not pulled out of a PGA Tour event in 20 years a span of 477 straight events dating back to the 1995 Western Open until his early withdrawal from the 2015 BMW Championship |
WFC | Global Banks And Insurance Companies Face Troubling Times Ahead | While Europeans leave the Euro and Euro bonds in droves for the safety and serenity of U S Treasuries forcing the interest rates here in the U S on the 10 year to near record lows currently at 1 45 many including myself talk about the coming Treasury bubble once interest rates reverse course But it s not just the U S Treasury that is worried about higher rates it s the banking and insurance industries too as higher rates would decimate both industries This article will explain just what trouble they are going to be facing in the months and years ahead What caused me to delve into this analysis now was a that Mish Shedlock wrote where he made the following statement Banks are not lending now for three reasonsBanks are capital impairedBanks are worried about being repaidThe relatively small pool of credit worthy borrowers who banks would lend to right now do not want creditI have written many articles on the issues with the nations top banks and haven t written on one other issue these and all other banks have a similar issue the insurance industry is facing in the near future First though let me address one more reason banks aren t lending which I believe Mish left out Reason 4 Why Banks Are Not Lending Now 4 Bank owners don t want to lock in a low interest rate for 30 years If you own a bank would you want to lock in these low rates for 30 years via extending a mortgage I would think not I remember in the mid 80 s my clients bragging about locking in their 5 mortgage rate A decade or so from now I imagine getting the same response from those who lock in today s low rates This doesn t mean that real estate is a bargain at today s prices but these rates sure make it attractive for many who just want a tax write off and are tired of paying someone else s mortgage to think about investing in real estate Bank Owners Know They Are in Trouble as They Know Higher Rates Are the Future What would higher interest rates do to the banks that make loans today Will this increase or decrease those approved for loans The answer is an obvious decrease Higher rates would kill an already defeated loan industry How is the loan industry already defeated They just lost 21 of their ability to loan because Wells Fargo who just for 175 million has ceased doing loans If those who were allegedly discriminated against before couldn t get a loan try and get one now At present loan applications for FHA fell by 20 7 over last month and refi applications fell 44 If no one is borrowing at today s low rates will a zero rate induce purchases Will banks loan If you owned a bank would you Seriously where is the profit to be gained Is it any wonder that the nations top banks and other financial companies are playing the derivatives market to try and make a buck From the looks of it they suck at it too Just look at the multi billion loss over 5 billion by J P Morgan recently as well as the bankruptcy of MF Global They made bad bets and lost Who s next The Fed has to keep rates low as long as possible and bank owners and managers are doing all they can to try and pay the bills and eek out a profit If that means taking on more risk then of course they will do that because they know Uncle Sam will be there to bail them out at taxpayer expense to save the system See Which brings us to an industry that has flown under the radar of most until now The Insurance Industry Problems Coming To Surface Many may not realize this but for years insurance companies have guaranteed 3 4 or more on their annuity and life insurance contracts are the type of product that pay a stated amount of interest for a specified period of time but have a guarantee built into them that states the interest rate wont fall below a certain percentage While there are various types of annuities the majority of them sold before the hybrid or variable annuities surfaced were what were called fixed annuities The same goes for the stated rate of interest guaranteed in life insurance contracts called Universal Life The problem for these types of products is interest rates have fallen below the guaranteed rates How Does An Insurance Company Investment Manager Invest Their Assets Insurance companies that sell annuities and life insurance are long term oriented in nature They plan for decades ahead to make sure they have the funds available to meet the mortality of their clients in the future In other words they are counted on to be there when the money is needed But insurance companies have to have good investment management to plan ahead for these future claims on their assets In the meantime they have to pay their salesmen employees and try to eek out a profit for their stock holders if a stock company or dividend if they are a mutual company So the overall rate of return on investments is something that a policy holder of that company would want to analyze I know for decades the insurance companies guaranteed 3 or more on their life insurance and annuity products Some of these insurance companies invested in longer term bonds years ago that have allowed them to keep paying the higher rates to their clients through today But how are these insurance companies investing today Are their portfolio managers locking in these low 5 and 10 year rates Longer What about those companies that didn t lock in the higher rates years ago but promised their clients 3 or more If we did have a continuance of this low interest rate environment how can many of these companies survive especially when the majority are limited in scope of investment as most insurance companies are investing in bonds they usually invest very little in stocks most under a 5 allocation Let s take a look at some of the nations top insurance companies and see what trends are developing The following chart shows the ratings of various companies using two of the following ratings companies A M Best and Weiss is the most recognized ratings company for insurers and they provide a financial and operating performance rating Weiss Ratings is known as a stickler that many in the insurance field don t like because of their perceived bias Weiss and other ratings agencies are explained below provides financial strength ratings for those insurers who request a rating S P also provides financial strength ratings from public information for other insurers and provide ratings for those insurers who request a rating Therefore ratings from these two services are not available for all insurance companies provides safety ratings on more than 1 700 insurance companies The chart analyzes what percentage of assets each of these insurers have invested in bonds and stocks what the yield has been on assets for the last 5 and 1 years as well as the return on investments As you can see by the above chart the current investment yield is lower than the 5 year average for all but one of these companies Allianz who has had a higher percentage in bonds than the other companies With the investment yield falling and return on equity even turning negative in two cases above insurance companies in general will be struggling to just make ends meet in the months and years to come Once interest rates do move higher and depending on the length of time each of these companies has invested their bond portfolio will dictate possible future issues Did they lock in today s 1 45 10 year Treasury guaranteeing them a rather lousy return compared to historic returns moving forward Are they buying more short term bond maturities so they don t get stuck with the lower rates when interest rates turn higher Or are they taking on more risk in other areas to make up for these interest rate declines What if interest rates stay lower ala Japan for 10 more years I am not in this latter camp but many thought Japan the world leader in Debt to GDP ratio wouldn t be able to handle this increase in debt This chart might answer some of those questions as it shows the average maturity of the bond portfolios of these companies What this chart tells me is that for the next 10 years on average these particular insurance companies and most others that invest accordingly will be struggling to find investment yield whether interest rates stay the same or move higher If they stay the same the higher guarantees they promised of 3 or more will eat away at their bottom line If they move higher then 60 of their portfolio or more will be affected negatively interest rates move up bond values move down Where is your insurance company invested Chances are you don t know You just trust the insurance agent or broker who tells you the magic buzz words of guaranteed and lifetime income In fact your annuity or life insurance cash value through a state This amount will vary from 100 000 to 500 000 depending on your state Insurance Companies Pushing Immediate Annuities Insurance companies are doing all they can now in getting people with money to lock in a Guaranteed Immediate Annuity with the promise of a lifetime income Guaranteed immediate annuities are an investment vehicle that will guarantee a lifetime income for you or you and your spouse paying you a small bit of interest and a return of your principal making it look like you are getting a good return on your contribution They tell you that you ll never run out of money as long as you live Well that is true as long as the insurance company you get the immediate annuity from is still in business But these products will turn out to be the worst investment a person can make once we see interest rates move higher A money market will give you a better return than these products will once interest rates turn higher AND you get to keep your principal and leave it to your loved ones The Bottom Line When interest rates do finally rise banks will find it more difficult to loan and insurance company portfolios will be negatively effected Whether you are a bank owner or run an insurance company or manage the investments for one the future as well as the present is troublesome It s not just with the rise in interest rates Banks and Insurance Companies are facing the same type of problems This presents an even stronger case in pointing out that most every investor in the U S has good reason to buy the only real safe haven that will be left standing gold and silver What percentage of your portfolio is invested in gold and silver bullion Doesn t it make sense for you to diversify You buy insurance for your home auto life and health but of these four things how many do you actually collect on Your portfolio especially at this point in our nations history where the entire globe is financially interconnected by the Central Banking System needs the insurance that physical gold and silver provide All Central Banks own gold as insurance against their own currency problems They always have It s about time you do to |
WFC | Five Below IPO Report | Based in Philadelphia PA Five Below FIVE scheduled a 125 million IPO with a market capitalization of 702 million at a price range mid point of 13 for Friday July 20 2012 Five other IPOs are scheduled for this week Full IPO calendar RECOMMENDATION Even though the recent private equity owners have cashed out as much as possible and intend to sell 50 of the IPO stock we expect FIVE to increase from the IPO price FIVE has discovered a demographic price point sweet spot And new stores have achieved average payback periods of less than one year Because FIVE is in only 17 states IPOdesktop believes this specialty retailer will grow top line revenue and bottom line profit by expanding to a number of other states with a proven success formula Updated S 1 filed THIS IS A PLUS FOR FIVE Five Below is an emerging growth company as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups JOBS Act of 2012 however the Company does not intend to take advantage of any of the reduced public company reporting requirements afforded by the JOBS Act UNDERWRITERS Manager Joint Managers Goldman Sachs Barclays Jefferies Co Managers Credit Suisse Deutsche Bank UBS Wells Fargo Securities SUMMARY FIVE targets the pre teen to late teen crowd with all merchandise under 5 Anecdotal comments suggest that some in that demographic just can t stay out of the FIVE stores FIVE was purchased on a private equity leveraged buyout basis in 2010 To date FIVE has paid out almost 300 million in dividends On the IPO shareholders intend to sell half the offering PREMIUM PRICED Compared to 10 other specialty retailers in the approximate same space FIVE at the price range mid point of 13 expects to IPO at a premium relative to the other s price to sales price to earnings and price to book value ratios BUSINESS Five Below is a rapidly growing specialty value retailer offering a broad range of trend right high quality merchandise FIVE targeted at the aspirational teen and pre teen customer FIVE s products are all priced at 5 and below including select brands and licensed merchandise across a number of categories referred to as worlds Style Room Sports Media Crafts Party Candy and Seasonal Anecdotal comments suggest that teens flock to the stores because of the 5 or less price point the merchandise selection Founded in 2002 FIVE opened its first store in 2002 and has since expanded across the eastern half of the U S As of April 28 2012 FIVE operated a total of 199 locations across 17 states Stores average 7 500 square feet Stores are typically located within power community and lifestyle shopping centers across a variety of urban suburban and semi rural markets MARKET According to the U S Census Bureau there were over 63 million people in the U S between the ages of 5 and 19 which represented over 20 of the U S population as of April 1 2010 According to EPM Communications Inc a publishing research and consulting firm teens and pre teens between the ages of 8 and 19 were projected to spend over 250 billion in the U S in 2011 GROWTH PLAN FIVE opened 50 net new stores in fiscal 2011 and plans to open 50 in fiscal 2012 and 60 in fiscal 2013 FIVE believes it has the potential to grow its store base in the U S from 199 locations as of April 28 2012 to more than 2 000 locations over 20 years IPOdesktop note This is the first time in memory a company has put in a 20 year horizon in an S 1 filing New store economics New stores have achieved average payback periods of less than one year FIVE s new store model anticipates a target store size of 7 500 square feet that achieves annual sales of 1 5 million to 1 6 million in the first full year of operation FIVE s new store model assumes an average new store investment of 300 000 New store investment includes store buildout net of tenant allowances inventory and cash pre opening expenses CAPITAL EXPENDITURES FIVE s capital expenditures typically vary depending on the timing of new store openings and infrastructure related investments FIVE plans to make capital expenditures of 20 0 million in fiscal 2012 and 23 0 million in fiscal 2013 which FIVE expects to fund from cash generated from operations FIVE expects to devote 15 0 million of its capital expenditure budget in fiscal 2012 to construct and open 50 new stores and a new distribution center which will continue into fiscal 2013 with the remainder projected to be spent on corporate infrastructure and store relocations and remodels TAX RATE For the remainder of fiscal 2012 FIVE believes its effective tax rate will be 40 0 SEASONAL FIVE s business is seasonal with the highest percentage of sales 42 of total annual sales over the last two fiscal years occurring during the last fiscal quarter November December and January which includes the holiday season COMPETITION FIVE competes with a broad range of retailers including discount mass merchandise grocery drug convenience variety and other specialty stores FIVE competes by offering an assortment of products all priced at 5 or below and including select brands and licensed merchandise targeted at the teen and pre teen customer PRIVATE EQUITY Funds managed by Advent International Corporation 62 5 Funds managed by LLR Capital II LLC 9 6 LEVERAGED BUYOUT On October 14 2010 Advent and Sargent Family Investment LLC a limited liability company controlled by Ronald Sargent invested 192 9 million and 1 1 million respectively in Five Below in consideration for 88 785 489 and 506 284 shares of Series A 8 convertible preferred stock respectively DIVIDENDS FIVE used the proceeds of the above investment as well as cash on hand to pay a special dividend to the holders of common stock on October 14 2010 The aggregate amount of such dividend was approximately 196 7 million On May 15 2012 FIVE declared and subsequently paid on May 16 2012 a special dividend 99 5 million FIVE has paid out stockholder dividends of 296 million that s what leveraged buyouts are all about from the private equity side EMPLOYEES As of April 28 2012 FIVE employed approximately 630 full time and 2 330 part time personnel USE OF PROCEEDS From the sale of 4 8 million shares FIVE expects to net 54 million from the IPO allocated to repay debt of 50 million used to finance the May 2012 dividend of 99 million The remaining proceeds if any are allocated for general corporate purposes including working capital Shareholders intend to also sell 4 8 million shares |
CMCSA | Exclusive State attorneys general probing AT T deal for DirecTV | By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON Reuters State attorneys general working to determine whether Comcast Corp s O CMCSA deal to buy Time Warner Cable Inc N TWC is legal have expanded their investigation to include AT T Inc s N T plans to buy DirecTV O DTV according to sources close to the merger probe
Some two dozen states were already coordinating with the U S Justice Department to interview critics and proponents of the Comcast merger which some lawmakers and public interest groups fear will result in higher costs and less competition
The states have now broadened their focus to include AT T s 48 5 billion proposed deal for DirecTV the No 1 U S satellite TV provider according to sources close to the probe asking not to be named because the matter is not public
New York and California are part of the multi state review the sources said
Florida acknowledged that it was part of the group Indiana said it was looking at the deal but declined to say if it was working with the group of state attorneys general
It is not unusual for attorneys general to join a Justice Department investigation of a major merger that potentially affects consumers in their state
Asked about the expanded investigation AT T spokesman Michael Balmoris said We look forward to discussions with these state attorneys generals on the significant consumer benefits created by this merger
While antitrust experts have said they expect the AT T deal to be approved the proposed transaction has raised hackles for several reasons
One is because of lost competition in the estimated quarter of U S homes where AT T the No 2 wireless carrier offers U Verse fiber optic delivery of television programming high speed Internet and home phone service DirecTV a satellite alternative to local cable providers is present in those markets
The attorneys general also are looking at programming issues one source said Content producers and smaller cable operators worry that the combined company might wield too much power over the creation distribution and costs of programming
They also are asking questions about the merger s effects on the development of high speed broadband As part of the deal AT T pledged to expand broadband to 70 million consumer locations
The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission must sign off on both deals before they can close
Reporting by Diane Bartz Editing by Bill Trott and Tom Brown |
CMCSA | Comcast beats by 0 02 misses on revenue | Investing com Comcast Corporation NASDAQ CMCSA the largest U S cable company reported better than expected third quarter earnings despite missing on revenue figures it said on Thursday
Comcast said adjusted earnings per share came in at 0 73 in the three months ending September 30 above expectations for earnings of 0 71 per share
The company s third quarter revenue totaled 16 79 billion below forecasts for revenue of 16 83 billion
Brian L Roberts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation said I am pleased to report strong revenue operating cash flow and free cash flow growth for the third quarter of 2014
Following the release of the report Comcast NASDAQ CMCSA shares jumped 1 in pre market trade
Meanwhile the outlook for U S equity markets was upbeat The Dow futures indicated a gain of 0 3 at the open the S P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0 4 while Nasdaq 100 futures tacked on 0 4 |
PFE | Is Pfizer Stock a Buy | Last Tuesday pharmaceutical titan Pfizer NYSE PFE reported its 2019 fourth quarter earnings This underwhelming Q4 report in conjunction with the downturn in the broader markets due to the coronavirus threat have caused the drugmaker s shares to dip by nearly 7 so far this week
While Pfizer s year end results were certainly nothing to write home about it s still fairly rare for a megacap pharma company to fall by high single digits in just a matter of two trading sessions Should investors take advantage of this profound weakness or is this hefty sell off justified Let s break down Pfizer s near term prospects to find out
Pfizer s transformation might be a buying opportunity
Going forward Pfizer s biopharma unit will be the foundation of its success or failure The drugmaker after all is slated to spin off its flagging Upjohn generic drug business with Mylan by mid year
What s on the near term horizon for Pfizer s all important biopharma business Since announcing the planned merger between Mylan and Upjohn Pfizer has repeatedly stated that its remaining biopharma unit should post exceptional top line growth in the area of 6 per year on average for the next five years The company s long term revenue forecast is predicated upon the continued success of existing growth products such as Ibrance Xtandi Eliquis Xeljanz and Vyndaqel as well as the future commercial success of a suite of next generation products currently under development
Fleshing out this point Pfizer stated during its Q4 conference call that the company is on track to make major strides across several key therapeutic areas such as dermatitis hemophilia cancer and vaccines among many others over the next year or so As a direct result the company revealed that it plans on boosting its already rich dividend program over the course of 2020 and investing in additional business development opportunities to further strengthen its biopharma unit
In the same breath management also announced that the company probably won t make any further share repurchases during calendar year 2020 That s a major departure from the company s former policy of beefing up its bottom line through massive share buybacks nearly every quarter
Verdict
As things stand now Pfizer arguably already has the assets in place to achieve a respectable 6 compound annual growth rate for its top line over the forecast period that is once the Upjohn Mylan merger becomes official later this year In fact that s not really a major risk factor given the company s proven track record as a top notch innovator and commercial powerhouse Things start to get truly interesting from a value creation standpoint when you consider Pfizer s stated interest in pursing additional mergers and acquisitions M A to solidify its core biopharma business
The obvious problem though is that Pfizer has a poor track record when it comes to the M A scene For example its 14 billion buyout of Medivation still looks questionable almost four years later and the drugmaker also paid a rather steep price for cancer specialist Array Biopharma Inc in 2019 So there s no guarantee that will be able to readily boost its top line by acquiring late or commercial stage assets at least not at an acceptable price tag And that s probably the main reason investors have largely kept their distance from this top biopharma stock over the past 12 months
In the final analysis though there s still a strong case to be made that Pfizer s stock does indeed deserve a spot in almost any growth or income oriented portfolio The next stage of the company s life cycle promises to be far more lucrative for investors than the prior decade Pfizer after all finally has a viable growth engine in place thanks to its successful pivot to oncology as a main source of growth That means management won t have to repeatedly lean on financial engineering tactics such as massive share buybacks to impress the market At some point the drugmaker s healthy top line growth will shine through |
PFE | 5 Reasons Pfizer Is Big Pharma s Top Dividend Stock to Buy Right Now | Pfizer NYSE PFE recently reported fourth quarter earnings that missed expectations on the top and bottom line As a result a jumpy stock market knocked a few percentage points off the stock price
Despite missing consensus forecasts Pfizer stock looks like a perfect fit for dividend portfolios Here are five of the most important reasons to buy this pharma stock on the dip
1 The price is right
The average stock in the S P 500 trades at 19 3 times forward estimates at the moment Since announcing fourth quarter earnings shares of Pfizer have fallen to just 13 7 times the low end of the company s 2020 adjusted earnings forecast
Right now the average dividend paying stock in the S P 500 index offers a measly 1 8 dividend yield Pfizer shares pay out more than double the benchmark average with a 3 9 yield at the moment
2 A 2 for 1 deal
Around the middle of 2020 Pfizer shareholders will end up owning two very different drugmakers both of which will continue distributing profits to shareholders The Pfizer that remains will develop new drugs and sell them until they lose patent protected market exclusivity
Pfizer s post exclusivity pharmaceutical segment UpJohn will merge with Mylan NASDAQ MYL to form a new company called Viatris Pfizer shareholders will own 57 of Viatris and receive a significant dividend from the new company Once the deal completes Viatris is expected to generate free cash flow at a rate of 4 billion annually and rise from there
3 Steady Viatris profits
According to Pfizer dividends from Viatris plus dividends from the Pfizer that remains will fall in line with the amount investors receive from their shares at the moment Sales of popular brands generally plunge once they have to fight generic competition but Viatris will have a diverse line of products and geography on its side The combined entity will market around 3 000 brands and molecules in 165 countries around the globe
In 2020 Viatris is expected to generate pro forma earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization between 7 5 billion and 8 billion from revenue expected to reach between 19 billion and 20 billion There s a lot of operational overlap between UpJohn and Mylan and the pair expect to squeeze out synergies that reach 1 billion annually by 2023
Of course Viatris isn t simply expecting growth from synergies alone Potential new generic versions of popular drugs losing exclusivity could add around 3 billion in annual revenue to Viatris top line by 2023
4 Rapid growth from the Pfizer that remains
While Viatris delivers a dividend powered by fairly steady profits the company that remains could deliver a payout that grows at a hair raising pace for years to come That s because Pfizer s enormous drug development pipeline is going to get much bigger in the years ahead
In 2019 Pfizer used 8 9 billion to repurchase shares and spent 8 7 billion on research and development expenses In 2020 the company will continue spending more than 8 billion on R D but share repurchases will take a backseat to pint sized acquisitions and licensing of new drug candidates in the middle stages of their development timelines
This year Pfizer anticipates sharing proof of concept data from 15 potential new drugs and we should also get to see pivotal data from five key studies With enough financial firepower to sign a dozen significant deals per year Pfizer s annual pipeline presentations are going to get much longer in the years to come
5 No more cliffs
Pfizer and big pharma in general make dividend investors extremely nervous because they ve seen the loss of market exclusivity for one or two key products at a time send total revenue plummeting in the past
The Pfizer that remains will produce lumpier earnings results than Viatris from one year to the next but steadier than shareholders experienced over the past decade Rather than trying to offset losses for huge blockbusters with giant mergers CEO Albert Bourla is thinking much further ahead by stocking the company s pipeline with promising assets in mid stage clinical testing
Hold tight with both hands
It may seem hard to believe but Zoetis the animal health business Pfizer spun off in 2013 has outperformed its parent by a mile Investors that have held on since the spinoff have seen their Zoetis shares deliver a 343 total return and their Pfizer shares deliver 68 over the same time frame
Shares of Pfizer at recent prices would make a great addition to a dividend portfolio but investors will want to hold on tight to shares of both companies they ll end up owning for the long term |
PFE | Pfizer s Biosimilar Ruxience Gets EU Regulatory Backing | The European Medicines Agency s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP on Friday recommended that the European Commission approve Pfizer s NYSE PFE drug Ruxience a biosimilar to MabThera which to Roche OTC RHHBY and Biogen NASDAQ BIIB sell in the U S as Rituxan
CHMP s positive opinion was based on a clinical trial dubbed Reflections B3281006 which compared Ruxience to the branded biologic drug MabThera in patients with a specific type of follicular lymphoma Both drugs produced similar overall response rates
Biologics are large molecule drugs that are produced using living organisms as opposed to via chemical processes like conventional small molecule medications This difference in how they re manufactured means that while another company may be able to develop a biologic that does essentially the same thing as a previously approved drug that new version the biosimilar will not be not quite the same as the original thus the similar in the name
While Pfizer is better known for its branded drugs the pharmaceutical company has jumped on the biosimilar bandwagon it has already developed four other oncology biosimilars that are available in Europe The company sold 911 million worth of biosimilar drugs last year with those revenues split almost equally between the U S and the rest of the world Pfizer has also gotten a taste of its own medicine on this front Sales of its anti inflammatory biologic Enbrel were down 18 in the fourth quarter due to biosimilar competition When Pfizer hives off its Upjohn generic drug unit later this year its biosimilars will stay with the branded drug division
Before Pfizer can start selling Ruxience in the EU CHMP s positive opinion will need to be finalized by the European Commission That decision is expected to be handed down in the first half of this year |
WFC | Piper Jaffray downgrades Wells Fargo citing credit concerns | Reuters Piper Jaffray cut its rating on Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co to underweight from neutral citing concerns about the bank s credit costs The downgrade comes a day after Wells Fargo reported a 7 percent decline in quarterly profit The bank has set aside more than 1 billion in the quarter to cover bad loans saying its energy portfolio remained under significant stress Wells Fargo aggressively grew its energy portfolio over the past several years and we expect auto credit to see incremental pressure through 2016 and into 2017 analyst Kevin Barker wrote in a note to clients Barker predicts the bank will implement a cost cutting plan to try to make up for weakness in revenue He cut his price target on Wells Fargo s stock to 44 from 47 Of 33 analysts tracked by Reuters who cover Wells Fargo 19 recommend investors buy the stock five recommend selling it and nine recommend keeping holdings steady The median price target is 57
Its shares were trading down 1 1 percent at 48 23 in morning trading Through Thursday s close the stock has lost 10 3 percent in value in 2016 |
PFE | Should Investors Buy Pfizer on the Dip | Pfizer NYSE PFE still hasn t recovered from the fall the stock took back in late July when analysts downgraded the stock after a disappointing earnings result and forecast affected by the company s decision to exit its Upjohn business Although the stock has been rallying in the months since then over the past six months it s up just 4 and nowhere near the S P 500 s returns of 16 during that time Pfizer has also been struggling in recent days as it released its fourth quarter results on Jan 28 which didn t inspire much enthusiasm from investors
However let s take a look at whether the underperforming stock is likely to rally or if more red is in its future
The big concern for investors growth
There are many question marks surrounding how Pfizer will do post Upjohn and right now investors aren t convinced that the company will do well at least not yet It disappointed investors in Q4 with sales down from the prior year quarter while earnings missed expectations However the company did indicate that it expects the new look Pfizer to achieve operational revenue growth of 8 for 2020
Over the longer term spinning off the Upjohn business which features off patent medicine could be a way for Pfizer to focus on higher growth products that can generate more revenue for the company However it s still unclear how all of that will pan out and just how much additional growth the company will generate For now it looks as though investors need some convincing of that given their lack of enthusiasm thus far
With Pfizer also combining its consumer healthcare business with GlaxoSmithKline it s difficult for Pfizer investors to gauge just how strong the company will be once all the dust settles from these moves
Still what s encouraging is that many of Pfizer s biopharma products saw strong growth in 2019 Ibrance Eliquis Vyndaqel Xtandi and Xeljanz all generated more than 20 sales growth operationally during the year contributing a combined 12 7 billion That s more than one quarter of the company s revenue for the year which totaled 51 8 billion With those drugs playing such a big role and already achieving such strong growth there s reason to be optimistic that Pfizer may not be in as much trouble as its share price suggests
Dividend is a consolation for impatient investors
For companies that may take a while to achieve longer term growth a dividend can go a long way in appeasing investors who may otherwise not be willing to wait Currently Pfizer pays investors a dividend yield of 4 per year What s even better is that the company recently raised its quarterly payments from 0 36 to 0 38 Pfizer s strong track record of not just paying dividends but increasing them can give investors an added incentive to buy and hold the stock for multiple years
The company s dividend payments have more than doubled from 2010 when Pfizer was paying its shareholders 0 18 every quarter
Is the price right
Pfizer has a good dividend as well as products that are generating solid growth for the company The last factor to consider in the decision making process is whether it s well priced Trading at 13 times earnings and a forward price to earnings ratio of just 12 Pfizer is attractive given that the company hasn t run out of growth options just yet Its PEG ratio of 1 4 also suggests that given the growth analysts are expecting from the stock it s not that expensive
Investors typically discount a stock when there s some risk or uncertainty involved and that looks to be what s happening with Pfizer
PFE P E Ratio data by YCharts
Although the stock has traded at lower multiples in the past its current price suggests the stock is likely undervalued especially if it becomes a better growth stock as a result of the Upjohn spinoff For long term investors who are looking for more than just growth Pfizer is an excellent option The healthcare stock could be a great buy for many years |
PFE | Better Buy Pfizer vs AbbVie | Pfizer NYSE PFE and AbbVie NYSE ABBV are both top notch dividend stocks At current levels Pfizer s shares sport a ginormous yield of 3 99 AbbVie on the other hand is the home of one of the industry s most generous payouts with a forward looking annualized yield of 5 11
Nonetheless these two elite income stocks have been headed in drastically different directions over the past half year While AbbVie s shares have produced total returns on capital of 48 when including dividends over the last six months Pfizer s stock has generated a far more modest return on capital of only 6 during the same period
The central issue behind this stark divergence is that Pfizer and AbbVie have taken markedly different approaches toward solving the same problem namely the loss of exclusivity for key revenue generators
Pfizer for its part has decided that it needs to slim down by carving out its legacy products business in a planned merger with generic drug giant Mylan AbbVie by contrast intends on bulking up through a merger with Botox maker Allergan This mega merger is designed to lower the importance of the biotech s top selling anti inflammatory medication Humira as the drug starts to face biosimilar competition in earnest
Which of these two blue chip dividend stocks is the better buy as things stand now Let s check out how Pfizer and AbbVie stack up on several key fronts
The case for Pfizer
Pfizer s overarching goal is to become a growth oriented biopharma with keen interests in immunology oncology rare diseases and vaccines By doing so it expects to post high single digit top line growth for at least the next five years That kind of revenue growth won t exactly wow anyone on Wall Street but it is a welcome change from the company s anemic top line growth over the past decade
Truth be told Pfizer s previous decade was really all about financial engineering huge amounts of share buybacks rather than solid revenue growth spurred by innovative new products Pfizer s new lineup of growth products which includes Ibrance Xtandi Eliquis Xeljanz and Vyndaqel should be sufficient to effectively close this dark chapter in the company s history
But there is a major element of the unknown with Pfizer at the moment It s no secret that the company is gearing up to pursue one or more bolt on acquisitions in order to flesh out its pipeline and product portfolio The good news is that the biopharma landscape is an especially target rich environment right now That being said Pfizer has been one of the worst companies when it comes to creating value from mergers and acquisitions M As So there s no telling how the company s next bout of M A will ultimately pan out
The case for AbbVie
Even though Humira s sales have been rapidly declining overseas AbbVie s top line has only continued to tick higher in recent quarters In the fourth quarter of 2019 for instance the biotech s revenue rose by a solid 5 compared with the same period a year ago While Humira s U S sales did play a big part in this healthy year over year rise in revenue the drugmaker s newer immunology medicines Rinvoq and Skyrizi and its blood cancer franchise consisting of Imbruvica and Venclexta loomed large as well Skyrizi in particular absolutely crushed Wall Street s forecast for the three month period beating the consensus sales estimate by a whopping 51 3
What s on tap for AbbVie for the remainder of the year The seminal event will undoubtedly be AbbVie s forthcoming tie up with Allergan which is set to close before the end of the first quarter of 2020 This transformational deal will immediately benefit AbbVie s top line diversify its product portfolio and perhaps result in another sizable increase to the drugmaker s dividend
Having said that there s also a good chance that the combined AbbVie Allergan entity will decide to put some of its noncore assets up for sale in the near future That s not uncommon upon the closing of a biopharma mega merger but it does add another moving part to an already complex investing thesis
Which stock is the better buy
All things considered AbbVie appears to have a solid leg up on Pfizer AbbVie sports a stronger near term growth outlook a richer dividend and a broader array of high growth products Pfizer on the other hand still needs to round out its pipeline and product portfolios a process that could take a few years to complete |
PFE | Pfizer axes license agreement with GlycoMimetics | In the wake of a failed late stage study evaluating rivipansel for the treatment of vaso occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease patients Pfizer PFE 0 4 has notified licensor GlycoMimetics GLYC 1 7 that it will terminate their 2011 agreement
GLYC will regain all rights to respective assets and will incur no termination penalties related to the end of the partnership |
PFE | U S stocks higher at close of trade Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0 94 | Investing com U S stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday as gains in the Oil Gas Technology and Consumer Services sectors led shares higher
At the close in NYSE the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0 94 to hit a new all time high while the S P 500 index added 0 65 and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0 90
The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were UnitedHealth Group Incorporated NYSE UNH which rose 4 36 or 12 69 points to trade at 303 48 at the close Meanwhile Nike Inc NYSE NKE added 2 98 or 2 98 points to end at 103 00 and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc NASDAQ WBA was up 2 79 or 1 48 points to 54 47 in late trade
The worst performers of the session were Merck Company Inc NYSE MRK which fell 2 35 or 2 00 points to trade at 83 25 at the close The Travelers Companies Inc NYSE TRV declined 1 22 or 1 67 points to end at 135 71 and Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE was down 0 92 or 0 35 points to 37 74
The top performers on the S P 500 were Interpublic Group of Companies Inc NYSE IPG which rose 7 44 to 24 98 Anthem Inc NYSE ANTM which was up 5 75 to settle at 296 00 and Nektar Therapeutics NASDAQ NKTR which gained 4 80 to close at 23 48
The worst performers were Western Union Company NYSE WU which was down 7 47 to 26 13 in late trade ABIOMED Inc NASDAQ ABMD which lost 5 05 to settle at 166 94 and Amcor NYSE AMCR which was down 4 56 to 10 47 at the close
The top performers on the NASDAQ Composite were Gemphire Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ NRBO which rose 104 08 to 30 00 Canaan Inc NASDAQ CAN which was up 82 73 to settle at 8 04 and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ TTNP which gained 27 19 to close at 0 2900
The worst performers were Zosano Pharma Corp NASDAQ ZSAN which was down 48 44 to 0 531 in late trade Polarityte Inc NASDAQ PTE which lost 47 17 to settle at 1 68 and Lianluo Smart Ltd NASDAQ LLIT which was down 44 00 to 0 7392 at the close
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the New York Stock Exchange by 1784 to 996 and 102 ended unchanged on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange 1596 rose and 1017 declined while 92 ended unchanged
Shares in Interpublic Group of Companies Inc NYSE IPG rose to 52 week highs rising 7 44 or 1 73 to 24 98 Shares in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated NYSE UNH rose to all time highs gaining 4 36 or 12 69 to 303 48 Shares in Zosano Pharma Corp NASDAQ ZSAN fell to all time lows losing 48 44 or 0 499 to 0 531 Shares in Polarityte Inc NASDAQ PTE fell to 5 year lows losing 47 17 or 1 50 to 1 68
The CBOE Volatility Index which measures the implied volatility of S P 500 options was down 9 49 to 13 74
Gold Futures for April delivery was down 0 06 or 1 00 to 1569 10 a troy ounce Elsewhere in commodities trading Crude oil for delivery in March rose 3 50 or 1 75 to hit 51 69 a barrel while the April Brent oil contract rose 0 16 or 0 09 to trade at 56 28 a barrel
EUR USD was up 0 03 to 1 0875 while USD JPY rose 0 00 to 110 08
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0 29 at 98 882 |
WFC | Wells Fargo becomes newest primary dealer | Reuters Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities the investment banking arm of Wells Fargo Co has been added to the roster of primary dealers that trade directly with the New York branch of the Federal Reserve the bank said Monday
It becomes the 23rd member of primary dealers which are comprised of brokerages that trade U S government securities and certain other securities with the Fed
Primary Dealership will allow us to better serve our existing customer franchise and is a logical extension of our client focused business model said Walter Dolhare head of Wells Fargo Securities market division in a statement We look forward to serving as a counterparty to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in our role as a Primary Dealer |
WFC | Capitals take 3 0 lead in series with Flyers | The Sports Xchange The Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center erupted after a moving tribute and spirited play from the home team led to a first minute goal Monday However the Washington Capitals weathered the early storm dominated the special teams battle yet again got great goaltending from Braden Holtby and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6 1 putting a 3 0 stranglehold on the Eastern Conference first round playoff matchup It s not over yet said captain Alexander Ovechkin whose three point night pushed him ahead of Dale Hunter for the most playoff points 73 in Capitals franchise history We have to forget about it and move forward It is the first time the Capitals ever held a 3 0 lead in a best of seven playoff series and they can thank their special teams Washington the league s best team got five goals on the man advantage bumping their series total up to 8 for 17 on the power play Meanwhile with the help of Holtby who made 31 saves the Caps held the Flyers scoreless on five power plays Philadelphia is now 0 for 13 with the man advantage The power play has lots of confidence Washington coach Barry Trotz said And they the Flyers give us lots of practice The Capitals led 2 1 after two periods after Ovechkin beat Steve Mason with a wrist shot from the right circle 8 50 into the middle frame The Caps put the game away in the third Evgeny Kuznetsov took advantage of a generous bounce off a Justin Williams clearing attempt to put the Capitals up 3 1 at 1 58 of the third period just before a slashing penalty to Brayden Schenn was coming to an end The puck was being wrapped around the boards and squirted right in front of Mason allowing Kuznetsov to score in tight It s the first time it s happened to us in a long time Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said It took the wind out of our sails We just weren t able to recover from that John Carlson who had two assists then beat Mason with a slap shot on the power play with 12 23 to play pushing the lead to 4 1 Flyers forward Pierre Edouard Bellemare was issued a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting Dmitry Orlov from behind with 7 43 left A melee ensued and it ended with misconducts to both sides and Flyers fans throwing onto the ice bracelets that were handed out before the game Ovechkin scored on the ensuing power play upping the lead to 5 1 Fans threw more bracelets onto the ice after the goal and the Flyers were given a two minute delay of game penalty Whatever I love Philly fans said winger Ryan White who received a 10 minute misconduct in the scrum and earlier knocked Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik from the game with a second period hit against the boards I d have done it too His teammate Wayne Simmonds didn t share the same sentiment I know they re upset in that situation he said But that can t happen Jay Beagle got in on the fun adding the fourth power play goal of the period By that point much of the crowd had left and there weren t many bracelets left to throw Obviously we pulled the game away and they weren t interested in playing anymore Trotz said I just thought it wasn t good for the game Plain and simple I don t think it displays our game very well The Flyers came out attacking from the opening faceoff after an emotional tribute honoring their late chairman Ed Snider
The Wells Fargo Center crowd was electric and the Flyers responded by scoring 57 seconds into the game A point shot by Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning through traffic ended up on the stick of Michael Raffl who beat Holtby to give the Flyers an early 1 0 lead However Simmonds took the energy out of the building 4 28 into the period by taking a holding minor that put the Flyers penalty kill to work Washington s power play stayed hot scoring 15 seconds into the man advantage when Marcus Johansson redirected a shot past Mason who finished with 21 saves to even the score at 1 1 We stayed to our gameplan and script Trotz said We took their best punch |
WFC | Jobless Claims Fell Slightly Last Week But Stagnation Prevails | Initial jobless claims slipped by 2 000 to a seasonally adjusted 387 000 That s enough to put a lid on fears that the economy s falling off a cliff now today this minute But today s update also falls well short of inspiring confidence that stronger sustained growth will quickly resume Nonetheless it s still hard to make a case that a new recession is imminent based on the latest numbers It s clear however that the downward trend in jobless claims has slowed if not stalled As the chart below shows new filings for unemployment benefits have stagnated at roughly the 370 000 to 390 000 level Confirmation arrives via the four week moving average of new claims which rose last week to the highest level since last December We can call it a rough patch a slowdown in the recovery or a prelude to another recession But whatever it s called it s undeniable that the labor market s expansion has slowed That s old news of course to anyone who read the The recent trend in jobless claims suggests that more sluggish jobs reports await Figuring out exactly if a sluggish labor market is temporary or the advance warning of a new economic contraction is tricky but it still appears as though there s a cushion between slow growth and recession Consider the rolling 12 month percentage change in jobless claims in unadjusted terms As you can see from the second chart new filings are still falling on a year over year basis History tells us that this annual comparison would be rising steadily in the early stages of an economic downturn Fortunately new claims are still falling with year earlier comparisons which suggests that the economy is still growing if only modestly Even so analysts are worried Momentum is slowing Ryan Wang an economist at HSBC Securities USA Companies have curtailed demand for labor This means less income growth That s a restraint on consumer spending This confirms the weak labor market we have Sam Bullard a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities I suspect we would see a modest rebound in payrolls in June but it would still be below 150 000 It s going to be another month of sub par jobs data Will that be enough to tip the economy over the edge Maybe maybe not But if we re headed for another recession soon it ll soon be obvious in jobless claims and other economic indicators Based on the numbers in hand to date however we re still not at the tipping point As I a broad ranking of 14 leading and coincident economic indicators including jobless claims remain in positive territory by a comfortable margin Granted this ranking only reflects the published numbers through May Will June s data deliver more ominous readings Maybe although today s jobless claims numbers suggest otherwise Slow growth is a problem and if it persists it ll deteriorate into a slump But for the moment that risk isn t imminent Looking further out in time is another matter In any case let s distinguish between reading the tea leaves that are in front of us vs forecasting Each type of analysis is useful but no one should confuse one with the other |
WFC | Euro Hits Lowest Level In Two Years Before Finance Ministers Meeting | EUR USDThe euro touched its lowest level in two years before regional finance ministers gather in Brussels today to discuss crisis fighting measures adopted by heads of government at a summit last month The 17 nation currency weakened versus most of its 16 major counterparts before a bill sale in Italy this week The euro earlier slid to as low as 1 2251 the weakest since July 2010 before trading at 1 2281 0 1 percent lower than the close on 6th of July The shared currency lost 0 3 percent to 97 65 yen The world s most accurate foreign exchange strategists say the worst is over for the euro this year putting them at odds with traders who see more pain as the region s economy shrinks and the sovereign debt crisis deepens Wells Fargo expects the euro to reach 1 26 next quarter before easing back to 1 24 in six months The bank whose currency calls had an average margin of error of 3 52 percent was the most accurate forecaster for the third consecutive title EUR USD width 625 height 396 GBP USD U K government bonds rose snapping a four week decline as the Bank of England voted to expand its asset purchase program by 50 billion pounds 77 6 billion to help contain borrowing costs Ten year yields dropped to the lowest in a month as signs the European debt crisis is worsening boosted demand for the relative safety of U K securities Ten year gilts outperformed 30 year debt as the central bank left its purchase categories unchanged from its previous round of buying The pound climbed to the strongest since 2008 against the euro after the European Central Bank refrained from committing to help bring down bond yields in Spain and Italy GBP USD title GBP USD width 624 height 468 USD JPYCore Machine orders in Japan plummeted a seasonally adjusted 14 8 percent on month in May the Cabinet Office said coming in at 671 9 billion yen That was well shy of forecasts for a contraction of 2 6 percent on month following the 5 7 percent increase in April On a yearly basis core machine orders added 1 0 percent also sharply below estimates for a rise of 7 0 percent following the 6 6 percent increase in the previous month The total number of machinery orders including those volatile ones for ships and from electric power companies saw a decline of 14 5 percent on month and 6 8 percent on year in May Japan saw a current account surplus in May the Ministry of Finance said down 62 6 percent on year That was far below forecasts for a surplus of 493 1 billion yen after showing an Y333 8 billion yen surplus in April Analysts also were looking for a decline of 13 6 percent on year following the 21 2 percent contraction in the previous month The trade balance showed a deficit of 848 2 billion yen up an annual 10 0 percent after showing a shortfall of 463 9 billion yen a month title USD JPY width 624 height 468 AUD USD Australia s dollar fell against most of its major peers as Asian stocks extended a global rout and amid concerns China s economy is slowing sapping demand for higher yielding currencies The so called aussie lost 0 1 percent to 1 0205 It fell as much as 0 5 percent to 80 96 yen the weakest since June 29 before trading 0 3 percent lower at 81 15 yen The Australian currency dropped after a report showed U S jobs growth last month was weaker than economists expected China s Premier Wen Jiabao said downward pressure on the nation s economy is still relatively large the official Xinhua News Agency said Australian government bonds rallied pushing the yield on benchmark 10 year debt down as much as 10 basis points or 0 1 percentage point to 3 percent The rate on the 15 year note the country s longest dated debt touched 3 25 percent the lowest since 5th of June AUD USD title AUD USD width 624 height 468 |
WFC | Diamond In Wells Fargo Will Continue The XLF s Reversal Down | As the XLF s largest component at about 10 Wells Fargo WFC is worth watching considering that this stock has corrected by just a little more than 10 at its worst YTD compared to some of the other big banks that are down about 30 YTD with WFC propping up the XLF to a large degree It appears though that WFC may just be about to take another dip down on a Diamond Top It will confirm at 31 91 for a target of 30 10 and pretty close to the target of the Rising Wedge that also confirms at 31 91 for a precise target of 29 80 and a potential decline of 10 again Could WFC s Diamond Top make the less typical break to the upside that confirms at 33 72 for a target of 35 53 Yes but this potential move up would play into the sideways trend of the bearish multi year Broadening Top that should pull WFC down to its bottom at about 22 50 within 6 to 12 months while a possible upside breakout from this aspect toward an upside target of 48 and above the 2009 peak is highly unlikely Bringing WFC back to the XLF in the near term its Diamond Top may be the technical aspect that will fill the latest plan to save Europe euphoria gap at 14 28 and a level that would confirm an Island Reversal for a target of 13 94 to confirm in turn the XLF s smaller Rising Wedge for a target of 13 28 Interestingly though in the context of the XLF s 3 year chart these near term technicals appear to be mere nuances considering that the XLF s major Rising Wedge born of the Operation Twist and truly the LTRO rally is fulfilling toward its 10 95 target for a possible decline of 24 from current levels and this pattern should be taken very seriously unless the XLF shows signs of taking out this year s high of 16 01 Overall then it does seem that a Diamond in WFC will continue the XLF s reversal down |
WFC | US Stock Futures Up JPMorgan Earnings In Focus | US stock futures are higher this morning as investors are awaiting from JPMorgan Chase Co NYSE Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 48 points to 12 550 00 and S P 500 index futures rose 5 10 points to 1 334 30 Nasdaq 100 futures gained 10 points to 2 547 75 US stocks closed lower on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0 25 to 12 573 27 the S P 500 index falling 0 50 to 1 334 76 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0 75 to 2 866 19 The June producer prices index will be released at 8 30 a m ET However the recent University of Michigan consumer confidence figures will be released at 9 55 a m ET JPMorgan Chase Co is projected to report its Q2 earnings at 0 76 per share on revenue of 21 93 billion iGATE NASDAQ is expected to report its Q2 earnings at 0 29 per share on revenue of 268 64 million Wells Fargo Company NYSE is projected to report its Q2 earnings at 0 81 per share on revenue of 21 36 billion Webster Financial NYSE is expected to report its Q2 earnings at 0 44 per share on revenue of 145 17 million Acme Packet NASDAQ announced its plans to buy back up to 200 million in Darden Restaurants NYSE agreed to buy Yard House USA for 585 million in cash Resources Connection NASDAQ reported a rise in its Q4 earnings European markets were higher today The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0 54 London s FTSE 100 Index gained 0 57 French CAC 40 Index climbed 0 40 and German DAX 30 index rose 0 66 Asian markets ended mostly higher with Japan s Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0 05 China s Shanghai Composite rising 0 02 and Australia s S P ASX 200 rising 0 30 Hong Kong s Hang Seng Index gained 0 35 India s Sensex fell 0 11 China s economic growth slowed to 7 6 in the second quarter versus an 8 1 expansion in the first quarter Nymex crude oil futures gained 0 60 to trade at 86 68 a barrel in electronic trade However gold futures surged 13 60 to 1 578 90 an ounce The dollar index fell 0 1 to trade at 83 59 The euro fell 0 04 versus the dollar to trade at 1 2199 The US dollar declined 0 1 against the Japanese yen to trade at 79 23 yen BY Monica Gerson |
CMCSA | Why One Congresswoman Wants To Block Fast Cheap Internet | By A senior congressional Republican this week introduced legislation that would bar the federal government from using its powers to help community owned internet service providers compete with private telecommunications companies
The move comes just as a Chattanooga based community owned Internet provider that delivers some of the fastest connections in the nation EPB is girding up for an expansion plan that would take on major telecommunications firms far beyond its home region
In many states major providers of high speed internet connections have successfully lobbied state lawmakers to deliver legislation that bars community owned internet providers from expanding beyond their home territories The FCC has the authority to intervene and preempt such state laws to enable smaller Internet providers to compete with larger national firms
The legislation introduced by Rep Marsha Blackburn R TN as an amendment to an annual spending bill would strip the FCC of this power
Blackburn s R TN top donors include private telecommunications firms that do not want to have to compete with publicly owned ISPs Her state is home to EPB a taxpayer owned power company in Chattanooga that also provides local residents some of the fastest Internet speeds in the world at market competitive rates EPB is now aiming to expand its services beyond Chattanooga
However to go forward with its expansion plan EPB needs the Federal Communications Commission to enter the fray applying its authority to preempt a Tennessee law backed by the private telecom industry that restricts the utility s ability to move into new geographic regions According to data from the Center for Public Integrity Tennessee is one of 20 states with such laws on its books
The chairman of the FCC Tom Wheeler has recently voiced support for using his agency s preemption authority to override state laws preventing community owned ISPs from competing with private telecom firms That stance represents a break from his past Wheeler previously worked as a lobbyist representing the cable industry the principal channel for broadband Internet service
Last month Wheeler met with Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke and a day later published a statement on the FCC s website declaring that it is in the best interests of consumers and competition that the FCC exercises its power to preempt state laws that ban or restrict competition from community broadband
If passed by Congress Blackburn s amendment could effectively strip the FCC of its preemption power at least for the year that the underlying annual appropriations measure is in force That would halt EPB s new expansion proposal and send a larger message to other community owned utilities that they may not get federal relief from state statutes
That would be a big win for the private telecom industry which might explain Blackburn s central role in the fight According to campaign finance data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics two of Blackburn s largest career donors are employees and PAC s affiliated with AT T Inc NYSE T 66 750 and Comcast Corporation NASDAQ CMCSA 36 600 Those are two of EPB s private sector competitors in Chattanooga Blackburn has also taken 56 000 from the National Cable Telecommunications Association which is the lobbying group representing major private telecom firms
Comcast has described community owned Internet service providers as a waste of taxpayer money while seeking to limit their expansion A Comcast spokesperson told International Business Times that Comcast operates in 39 states and has 130 000 employees across the country It is important for our customers our employees and our shareholders that we participate in the political process The majority of our PAC contributions are to the Senators and Members who represent our employees and customers
AT T did not respond to a request for comment by press time
As the Chattanooga Times Free Press noted a few years back EPB offers faster Internet speeds for the money and shows equal pep in both uploading and downloading content with Comcast and AT T trailing on quickness The New York Times notes that for less than 70 a month consumers enjoy an ultrahigh speed fiber optic connection that transfers data at one gigabit per second a rate that is 50 times the average speed for homes in the rest of the country
That success has been so rapid that the private telecom industry has abandoned the business lobby s traditional arguments Whereas corporations typically argue that the private sector has inherent and obvious advantages over the public sector the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that telecom firms have gone to court insisting that EPB as a public entity would have an edge when competing against private companies which would be at a disadvantage when facing an entity owned by taxpayers Similarly whereas corporations typically push for government to stay out of the marketplace private telecom firms have pushed for state legislatures to use government power to intervene in the marketplace by prohibiting community owned utilities from competing for Internet customers
Blackburn defends her bill to preserve those state laws by presenting it as a measure to protect local sovereignty
We don t need unelected Federal agency bureaucrats in Washington telling our States what they can and can t do with respect to protecting their limited taxpayer dollars in private enterprises Blackburn said Tuesday during a congressional debate about her amendment We should be careful and deliberate in how we allow public entry into our vibrant communications marketplace This is an issue that should be left to our states
The consumer watchdog group Free Press has made the opposite argument Citing data from the public private partnership Connected Tennessee the organization reports that constituents back in Hickman County in the center of Blackburn s Tennessee district struggle to get fast and affordable Internet services as only 38 percent of Hickman residents have access to broadband services far below the Tennessee statewide average of 58 percent The group argues that if the FCC preempts the 20 state laws limiting municipal broadband it would help address some of those access shortfalls through entities like EPB
EPB s much vaunted move into Internet services began in 2008 after utility officials realized cost saving smart grid infrastructure for energy transmission could also serve as a conduit for super fast broadband speeds Like corporations the utility issued bonds to raise resources to invest in building out its broadband capacity Similarly just as many private corporations ended up receiving federal stimulus dollars so too did EPB which put those monies into the broadband network
Earlier this year EPB officials have told the Washington Post that the telecom services have become a great profit center an assertion that appears to be confirmed by a 2012 Standard Poor credit upgrade notice pointing out that the utility is now covering all costs from telephone video and Internet revenue as well as providing significant financial benefit to the electric system |
CMCSA | The Difference Between Time Warner Cable Time Warner Inc | By Word that Rupert Murdoch and his 21st Century Fox NASDAQ FOX behemoth was rebuffed after offering to acquire Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX has dominated headlines for nearly 48 hours yet many readers admit to being confused in no small part because the news came just months after word that Comcast Corp NASDAQ CMCSA bought Time Warner
The short answer is this There are two different Time Warner companies Along with Time Warner Inc the multinational media corporation that owns HBO Castle Rock Entertainment and Warner Bros among dozens of others there s Time Warner Cable Inc NYSE TWC The latter is a New York City based cable and telecommunications company that provides digital cable service Internet and phone service
The long answer is a bit more complicated The two companies share an office space in Midtown Manhattan and have the same name but have almost nothing else in common
Time Warner Cable was in fact acquired by Comcast in a deal reached in February slated to combine the largest cable and Internet provider in the United States Comcast with the second largest Time Warner Cable The proposed merger still needs approval from both the Federal Communication Commission and the U S Department of Justice before it s finalized but the issue has been a point of contention for customers and smaller businesses who argue that service will get worse as prices increase
Suffice it to say that when the Australian born Murdoch made his offer to buy Time Warner he wasn t trying to acquire the same business that forces customers to spend a monthly 6 to merely rent a cable modem |
CMCSA | Comcast beats by 0 03 misses on revenue | Investing com Comcast Corporation NASDAQ CMCSA the largest U S cable company reported better than expected second quarter earnings despite missing on revenue figures it said on Tuesday
Comcast said adjusted earnings per share came in at 75 cents in the second quarter above expectations for earnings of 72 cents per share
The company s second quarter revenue totaled 16 48 billion below forecasts for revenue of 16 97 billion
High Speed Internet customers increased by 203 000 the best second quarter net additions in six years
Brian L Roberts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation said We continue to see strong momentum across our cable and content businesses
Following the release of the report Comcast NASDAQ CMCSA shares jumped 1 1 in pre market trade
Meanwhile the outlook for U S equity markets was upbeat The Dow indicated a gain of 0 25 at the open the S P 500 pointed to a rise of 0 2 while Nasdaq 100 tacked on 0 3 |
PFE | Glaxo GSK Misses Earnings Revenue Estimates In Q4 | GlaxoSmithKline plc NYSE GSK one of the largest health care companies reshaped its business following the March 2015 completion of the three part inter conditional transaction with Novartis related to its Consumer Healthcare Vaccines and Oncology businesses Under the deal Glaxo sold its oncology assets to Novartis and acquired Novartis Vaccines business excluding influenza vaccines Glaxo has created a joint venture JV with Pfizer NYSE PFE earlier in 2019 thereby combining their consumer healthcare unit Following the completion of the deal the UK based company now focuses on its three core businesses Pharmaceuticals respiratory HIV Vaccines pediatric adolescent adult and travel vaccines and Consumer Healthcare wellness oral health nutrition and skin health products However Glaxo is currently focusing on its core assets and divesting non core assets Meanwhile like many of its peers Glaxo is facing challenges in the form of stiff competition genericization and pricing pressure In this scenario investor focus remains on late stage pipeline candidates and their commercial potential restructuring and cost cutting initiatives and performance of new products apart from the usual top and bottom line numbers Glaxo s performance has been impressive so far with the company s earnings beating expectations in each of the trailing four quarters Overall the company has delivered an average positive surprise of 17 23 Currently Glaxo has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold but that could definitely change following the company s earnings report which was just released We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just revealed announcement below Earnings Miss Glaxo reported core earnings of 65 cents per American depositary share in the fourth quarter of 2019 which missed our consensus estimate of 68 cents Core earnings declined 16 year over year at constant exchange rate CER Revenues Miss Revenues were up 11 year over year at CER to 11 57 billion 8 9 billion Revenues also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11 77 billion Key Stats Glaxo initiated a two year program to split itself into two standalone entities a biopharma company and a consumer healthcare company The program is expected to cost 2 4 billion with separation of Consumer Healthcare JV is expected to cost the company additonal one time charge of 600 700 million Sales in Vaccines segment surged 21 at CER while Consumer Healthcare sales increased 37 Pharmaceuticals sales were down 4 at CER The Respiratory segment increased 9 at CER HIV product sales remained flat at CER Growth in Respiratory segment was completely offset by decline in sales of Established Pharmaceuticals segment 2020 Guidance Glaxo expects adjusted EPS to decline 1 to 4 at CER year over year in 2020 Share Price Impact Shares fell almost 1 in pre market trading Check back later for our full write up on GSK earnings report later Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a GenerationBe among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices In the process it s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate 12 3 trillion in activity A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT in the 1990s Zacks just released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch The report is only available for a limited time |
PFE | Novo Nordisk NVO Q4 Earnings Match Estimates Revenues Beat | Novo Nordisk CSE NOVOb A S NYSE NVO reported fourth quarter 2019 earnings of 55 cents per American Depositary Receipt ADR matching the Zacks Consensus Estimate and increasing 5 in DKK from the year ago quarter Revenues grew 9 year over year in DKK up 6 at constant exchange rate CER to 4 86 billion Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 4 83 billion In the past year Novo Nordisk s shares have rallied 26 5 outperforming the s growth of 11 7 All growth rates mentioned below are on a year over year basis Quarter in DetailNovo Nordisk operates in two segments Diabetes and Obesity care and Biopharmaceuticals The Diabetes and Obesity Care segment sales grew 7 at CER Sales of insulin decreased 4 at CER to DKK 14 907 million Sales of long acting insulin Tresiba Xultophy and Levemir declined 9 to DKK 5 102 million Sales at the Biopharmaceuticals segment rose 2 at CER to DKK 5 087 million Hemophilia sales were up 1 to DKK 2 554 million Ozempic had a strong launch and recorded sales of DKK 4 365 million in the quarter Research and development R D expenses declined 5 at CER owing to the priority review voucher for Rybelsus in the fourth quarter of 2018 Administrative costs decreased 3 at CER from the year ago period Sales and distribution costs ascended 8 at CER owing to resource allocation to the growth markets promotional activities for Saxenda launch activities for Ozempic and prelaunch activities for Tresiba in China Full Year 2019 UpdateThe company recorded earnings of 2 46 for 2019 up 3 in DKK The company recorded sales of 18 3 billion up 9 in DKK and 6 at CEROther UpdatesIn January 2020 Ozempic was approved in the United States for cardiovascular CV risk reduction in people with Type II diabetes and established cardiovascular diseases Rybelsus label in the United States was updated with additional information from the PIONEER 6 CV outcomes study In the same month Rybelsus was recommended for approval for the treatment of adults with Type II diabetes by the European regulatory authorities 2020 OutlookNovo Nordisk expects 3 6 sales growth at CER for 2020 This reflects a strong performance for the GLP 1 based diabetes care products Ozempic Victoza and Rybelsus the obesity care product Saxenda the portfolio of new generation insulin and the contribution from biopharm products Esperoct Refixia and NovoEight However this is expected to be partly offset by intensifying global competition within the Diabetes Care and Biopharmaceuticals segments especially for hemophilia inhibitor Persistent pricing pressure within Diabetes Care especially in the United States might also negatively impact sales Our TakeContinued growth from Victoza and Tresiba the strong launch of Ozempic and higher contributions from Saxenda should offset the impact of lower realized prices in the United States loss of exclusivity for products in hormone replacement therapy and stiff rivalry within diabetes and biopharmaceuticals markets Novo Nordisk A S Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Zacks Rank Stocks to ConsiderNovo Nordisk currently has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell A few better ranked stocks from the healthcare space are Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE Sanofi NASDAQ SNY and Roche Holding SIX ROG AG OTC RHHBY While Pfizer sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Sanofi and Roche carry a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Pfizer s earnings per share estimates have moved up from 2 62 to 2 77 for 2020 and from 2 73 to 2 81 for 2021 in the past 90 days The company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 7 46 on average in three of the last four quarters Sanofi s earnings per share estimates have moved up from 3 26 to 3 29 for 2019 and from 3 45 to 3 49 for 2020 in the past 60 days The company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 8 25 on average in the last four quarters Roche s earnings per share estimates have increased from 2 61 to 2 66 for 2020 and from 2 82 to 2 85 for 2021 in the past 60 days Biggest Tech Breakthrough in a Generation Be among the early investors in the new type of device that experts say could impact society as much as the discovery of electricity Current technology will soon be outdated and replaced by these new devices In the process it s expected to create 22 million jobs and generate 12 3 trillion in activity A select few stocks could skyrocket the most as rollout accelerates for this new tech Early investors could see gains similar to buying Microsoft NASDAQ MSFT in the 1990s Zacks just released special report reveals 8 stocks to watch The report is only available for a limited time |
PFE | Blueprint Medicines NDA For Avapritinib Gets Extended Review | Blueprint Medicines Corporation NASDAQ BPMC announced that the FDA has extended the review period of a new drug application NDA for its lead pipeline candidate avapritinib by three months The NDA is seeking accelerated approval for avapritinib an inhibitor of KIT and PDGFRA proteins as a treatment for fourth line gastrointestinal stromal tumors GIST As a result the regulatory body will now announce its decision by May 14 2020 instead of the previously anticipated date in February 2019 The extension of the review period is due to requested submission of additional data on the candidate by the FDA Shares of Blueprint Medicines fell 5 4 on Feb 6 following the announcement The company s shares have declined 15 5 in the past year compared with the s decrease of 0 1 The company submitted the NDA in June 2019 to the FDA seeking accelerated approval for avapritinib for treating PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant GIST and fourth line GIST The NDA was accepted and granted priority review by the regulatory authority in August The NDA included data from the registration enabling NAVIGATOR study which showed that patients with PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant GIST achieved an objective response rate ORR of 86 while the median duration of response DOR was not reached Meanwhile patients with fourth line GIST had an ORR of 22 while the median DOR was 10 2 months In October 2019 the FDA informed Blueprint Medicines that it intends to split the NDA into two separate NDAs each for PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant GIST and fourth line GIST The candidate was approved for treating PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant GIST last month under the tradename of Ayvakit However for approval in fourth line GIST the regulatory body requested the company to submit data from ongoing phase III VOYAGER study evaluating avapritinib in third and fourth line GIST patients The company expects to report top line data from the study early in the second quarter of 2020 Avapritinib is also under review in Europe for both PDGFRA Exon 18 mutant GIST and fourth line GIST indications The phase III VOYAGER program is evaluating the safety and efficacy of avapritinib compared with Bayer s OTC BAYRY Stivarga regorafenib in patients with the third or fourth line GIST The company also plans to initiate a global phase III precision medicine study COMPASS 2L to evaluate the safety and efficacy of avapritinib compared to Pfizer s NYSE PFE Sutent sunitinib for treating second line GIST patients with pre specified disease genotypes in 2020 It plans to submit a label expansion application to seek approval for avapritinib as a treatment for third line GIST in the second half of 2020 Other than GIST Blueprint Medicines is pursuing a broad clinical development program for avapritinib across the advanced indolent and smoldering forms of systemic mastocytosis SM Avapritinib is currently being evaluated in two studies namely the phase I EXPLORER clinical study and the registration enabling phase II PATHFINDER study for advanced SM The company plans to submit a regulatory application seeking label expansion of avapritinib to include patients with advanced SM indication in the first quarter of 2020 Apart from avapritinib Blueprint Medicines has several pipeline candidates in early developmental stages Notably Blueprint Medicines presently has no approved product in its portfolio Thus approval of avapritinib will lower the company s heavy dependence on its partners for revenue generation The company is currently in partnership with Roche OTC RHHBY and CStone Pharmaceuticals for the development and commercialization of its pipeline candidates Blueprint Medicines Corporation Price
Zacks RankBlueprint Medicines currently has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Just Released Zacks 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of 24 7 per year These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout |
PFE | Pfizer s Xtandi Improves OS Rate In Prostate Cancer Study | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and Japanese partner Astellas announced overall survival OS data from a late stage study evaluating the combo of Xtandi enzalutamide plus androgen deprivation therapy ADT in men with non metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer nmCRPC Data from the phase III PROSPER study showed that treatment with Xtandi plus ADT led to a statistically significant improvement in OS a key secondary endpoint in men with nmCRPC compared to placebo plus ADT Shares of Pfizer have declined 8 7 in the past year against the increase of 13 3 We remind investors that in July 2018 the FDA granted approval to Xtandi for treating the non metastatic CRPC patient population based on metastasis free survival MFS data from the PROSPER study MFS was the first primary endpoint of the study while OS was its key secondary endpoint Meanwhile in December 2019 the regulatory body approved Xtandi to treat men with metastatic castration sensitive prostate cancer mCSPC The sNDA was based on data from the phase III ARCHES study Following this nod Xtandi is now approved for three indications in advanced prostate cancer namely non metastatic and metastatic CRPC and mCSPC Notably Xtandi was added to Pfizer s portfolio with the acquisition of Medivation in September 2016 While Pfizer sells Xtandi in the United States in partnership with Astellas the latter owns the drug s marketing rights outside the U S markets Pfizer recorded Xtandi alliance revenues worth 838 million in 2019 reflecting an increase of 20 year over year The label expansion of Xtandi allows it to treat a broader prostate cancer patient population and drive growth for Pfizer However the medicine faces competition from Johnson Johnson s NYSE JNJ new prostate cancer drug Erleada and the generic versions of its product Zytiga Zacks Rank Other Key PicksPfizer currently sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy Other stocks worth considering in the pharma biotech sector include Novartis AG NYSE NVS and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated NASDAQ VRTX both carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Novartis earnings estimates have moved 0 4 north for 2020 over the past 60 days The stock has rallied 10 6 in the past year Vertex s earnings estimates have been revised 13 5 upward for 2020 over the past 60 days The stock has jumped 33 7 in the past year Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2019 while the S P 500 gained and impressive 53 6 five of our strategies returned 65 8 97 1 118 0 175 7 and even 186 7 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2019 while the S P averaged 6 0 per year our top strategies averaged up to 54 7 per year |
PFE | Pfizer s Q4 Results 2020 Guidance Leave Investors Cold | Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer NYSE PFE reported fourth quarter results Tuesday that beat expectations for revenue but missed on the bottom line That miss combined with weak profit guidance helped propel shares lower The stock was trading down by more than 5 as of 3 p m
Revenue which was diminished by the spinoff of its consumer healthcare business in the third quarter fell 9 to 12 69 billion but that was better than the analysts consensus estimate of 12 61 billion Excluding the impact of the divestiture revenue grew 2 operationally Adjusted earnings per share fell 13 to 0 55 compared with analysts consensus forecast of 0 57
Pfizer is in the process of spinning off its Upjohn unit which will be combined with Mylan NASDAQ MYL to form a new company to be named Viatris Mylan s shares were actually up 3 in late afternoon trading
A large share of the quarter s declines came from the recent arrival on the market of generic competition for Lyrica a drug that will be part of the spinoff After multiple generic companies launched their versions Lyrica sales plummeted 67 in the quarter But operational revenues increased by 9 for Pfizer s biopharma business which will be the part of the company that remains after the Upjohn spinoff
Pfizer s guidance for 2020 was complicated by all the moving pieces but its earnings forecast for the full company as it exists today was not entirely to the market s liking Management expects earnings per share to land in the 2 82 to 2 92 range the midpoint of which was below analyst s consensus expectation of 2 90
Investors may also have been disappointed by the revenues from two of the company s blockbuster biopharma drugs Ibrance sales of which were flat from Q3 despite 25 growth year over year and Xeljanz which had a sequential sales gain of only about 1 Management expressed confidence that sales of those two drugs would return to growth and was optimistic about the pipeline developments it expects this year |
PFE | Why Pfizer s Shares Sank Today | What happened
Shares of Pfizer NYSE PFE were sinking by 5 4 as of 3 05 p m EST on Tuesday after the big drugmaker announced its 2019 fourth quarter and full year earnings results before the market open Pfizer reported Q4 revenue of 12 7 billion down 9 year over year The company s adjusted earnings also dropped to 3 1 billion or 0 55 per share from 3 75 billion or 0 63 per share in the prior year period
Pfizer also provided full year 2020 guidance projecting revenue between 48 5 billion and 50 5 billion with adjusted diluted earnings per share between 2 82 and 2 92 Both ranges were below consensus Wall Street estimates
So what
Investors were understandably disappointed with the Q4 update especially with the company s guidance However the big picture arguably looks better than in recent years
Pfizer s main problem right now is the declining sales for blockbuster nerve pain drug Lyrica in the face of new generic competition Lyrica is part of the company s Upjohn unit which Pfizer plans to spin off and merge with Mylan into a new company
While this move isn t a perfect solution it will enable the new Pfizer to achieve much stronger growth than the company has been delivering Pfizer projects that sales for the company remaining after the spinoff of Upjohn will increase by 8 year over year in 2020
Now what
The smartest thing for investors to do with pharmaceutical stocks is to focus on the prospects of their current drugs and pipeline candidates instead of the performance from one quarter After the Upjohn Mylan transaction is complete Pfizer will have multiple growth drivers notably including Eliquis Ibrance Vyndaqel and Xeljanz without any major anchors weighing it down as is the case now with Lyrica
In addition Pfizer s pipeline includes plenty of promising candidates Keep your eyes especially on the company s 20 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PF 06482077 Pfizer plans to report results from three phase 3 clinical studies for the vaccine in the first half of this year |
PFE | Pfizer Inc PFE Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE Q4 2019 Earnings CallJan 28 2020 10 00 a m ETContents
Prepared Remarks
Questions and Answers
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks
OperatorGood day everyone and welcome to Pfizer s Fourth Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call Today s call is being recorded At this time I would like to turn the call over to Mr Chuck Triano Senior Vice President of Investor Relations Please go ahead sir Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGood morning and thank you for joining us today to review Pfizer s fourth quarter and full year 2019 performance and 2020 financial guidance I m joined today by our CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla Frank D Amelio our CFO Mikael Dolsten President of Worldwide Research and Development Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group John Young our Chief Business Officer and Doug Lankler General Counsel The slides that will be presented on this call were posted to our website earlier this morning and are available at You will see here that slide 3 covers our legal disclosures Albert and Frank will now make prepared remarks and then we will move to a question and answer session With that I will now turn the call over to Albert Bourla Albert Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you Chuck and good morning everyone This morning I will speak about our performance for the year the continued advancement of our pipeline and the steps we are taking to position Pfizer for accelerated growth following the expected separation of Upjohn from Pfizer later this year Frank will then provide details regarding our fourth quarter performance and our 2020 financial guidance 2019 was a productive and transformational year for Pfizer We generated solid full year financial results These results were highlighted by exceptional 8 operational revenue growth for the year and 9 in the fourth quarter for our Biopharma business which will become the new Pfizer following the expected separation of Upjohn Once again our Biopharmaceutical Group s outstanding growth was driven primarily by the continued strong performance from all our key growth drivers This include Ibrance Xtandi Eliquis Xeljanz Vyndaqel among others Biopharma also generated 14 operational growth in emerging markets in 2019 I would point out that Biopharma s 2019 growth came from volume increases not pricing In fact pricing had a negative 2 impact in Biopharma s results For full year 2019 global Ibrance revenues increased 23 operationally to become a nearly 5 billion a year product In the US Ibrance realized robust growth and retained its strong leadership position in the syndicate class with a nearly 90 surge Ibrance performance outside of the US was also very strong and we still see significant opportunities in countries where the use of CDK inhibitors has not yet reached the levels seen in the US Overall Ibrance is approved in more than 90 countries It s the number one prescribed CDK4 6 inhibitor globally and has reached more than 250 000 patients For Xtandi alliance revenues in the US were up 20 for the full year and when combined with our royalty income on ex US sales totaled nearly 1 2 billion in 2019 Xtandi is the leading branded novel hormone therapy in an increasingly competitive but growing class with 37 market share in total prescriptions Their vast year over year growth was due to continued uptake of the non metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer indication as well as prescriber confidence and the recognition of Xtandi s strong data across CRPC With the recent launch of our Xtandi indication in metastatic castration sensitive prostate cancer in the US Xtandi is now the first and only oral treatment approved by the FDA in three distinct types of prostate cancer Eliquis continued to perform well Pfizer s sale in the global revenues was up 26 operationally to 4 2 billion This growth was driven primarily by continued increased adoption in non valvular atrial fibrillation as well as oral anticoagulant market share gains Eliquis is now the oral anticoagulant leader in 12 markets across the globe Xeljanz had a strong performance with global revenues increasing 29 operationally to 2 2 billion We are very pleased with the continued positive uptake across all indications rheumatoid arthritis psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis and we continue to launch psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis into new markets Looking at our rare disease business Vyndaqel continues to ramp up nicely in the US following the May 2019 approval and launch for the treatment of ATTR cardiomyopathy Overall this first of its kind medicine contributed 473 million in revenue in 2019 Our disease awareness efforts helped drive the diagnosis rates to 9 by the end of the fourth quarter compared with 1 prior to launch As such at the end of 2019 more than 9 000 patients have been diagnosed more than 5 500 patients had received a prescription for Vyndaqel and more than 3 000 patients had received the drug These numbers do not include approximately 100 patients who are still in the early access program Global Prevenar 13 revenues were up 3 operationally to 5 8 billion The US CDC also published its updated recommendation for immunocompetent adults aged 65 and older to shared Phonetic clinical decision making in the November morbidity and mortality weekly report highlighting that a patient can serve a decision to vaccinate with PCV13 with a physician physician s assistant nurse practitioner or pharmacist Looking at our sterile injectables portfolio our focus on manufacturing recovery is taking shape and beginning to have a positive impact on the top line in the US We have made solid progress with remediation and modernization and expect continued improvement throughout 2020 Of note while global revenue from our sterile injectables portfolio declined 1 operationally for the full year it increased 5 operationally during the fourth quarter Additionally more than 80 of our injectables portfolio is in stock today and we anticipate this percentage will continue to increase in 2020 Our global biosimilars portfolio grew 22 operationally to 911 million for the full year This was driven largely by 70 growth in the US thanks to the launch of Retacrit and a gradual uptake of Inflectra The growth in the US was partially offset by decline in international markets driven mainly by Inflectra We expect an additional contribution from biosimilars in 2020 with the launch of free oncology monoclonal antibody biosimilars Last week we announced the launches of Zirabev and Ruxience in the US market and next month we expect to launch Trazimera All three products will be available at a substantially discounted price compared with their originator products Full year revenues for our Upjohn business were down 16 operationally to 10 2 billion The key headwind during the year was the advent of generic competition on Lyrica in the US which was partially offset by 7 operational growth in China The growth in China was driven primarily by Viagra and Celebrex as well as Lipitor in non reimbursed channels which constitute significant market share in China We are making good progress with a pre integration planning for Upjohn s proposed combination with Mylan which remains on track for mid 2020 In December we announced that former Pfizer Chairman Ian Read and current Pfizer Director James Kilts will join the Viatris board of directors upon completion of the transaction We are also working closely with our counterparts of Mylan on the CFO selection process We expect to announce the appointments of both the CFO and the third Director by the end of this quarter We have great confidence in Viatris which will combine Upjohn s strong commercial capabilities and iconic brands with Mylan s terrific pipeline Turning now to R D We remain very pleased with the progress we are making with our pipeline We are expecting key clinical results in 2020 several of which have the potential to make this an exciting year for patients hoping for new treatment options We anticipate sharing data from up to 15 proof of concept readouts with contributions from all our therapeutic areas as well as up to 10 pivotal study starts and five key pivotal study readouts I will now highlight some of those expected events We continue to expect our two event driven Ibrance early breast cancer programs PENELOPE B and PALLAS to read out in late 2020 and early 2021 respectively If successful and following regulatory approval these programs could double the number of patients eligible to benefit from Ibrance The Phase 2 open label single arm ANCHOR CRC study evaluating the efficacy and safety of the combination of Braftovi and Mektovi and cetuximab in patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E mutant metastatic colorectal cancer is currently ongoing Results from the study will be submitted for presentation at a medical congress in the second half of 2020 For abrocitinib our investigational JAK1 inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis we look forward to sharing top line findings from the Phase 3 JADE COMPARE trial in the coming months Pending successful conclusion of the core Phase 3 studies regulatory submission in the US is projected for the third quarter of 2020 with subsequent markets following later in the year This study is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of abrocitinib or dupilumab placebo in adults on background medicated topical therapy with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis The study also has a key secondary endpoint but it is designed to assess the effect on each severity of abrocitinib compared with dupilumab in adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis on background topical therapy There are up to five proof of concept readouts expected in 2020 from our industry leading immunokinase pipeline Our hope is to advance several of these into Phase 3 trials This include TYK2 JAK1 with potential POC readouts for psoriatic arthritis and for a topical formulation for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis as well as an oral JAK3 TEC for vitiligo and oral TYK2 for psoriasis This is a great example of our unique strategy to purposefully match a molecule to a disease where we think it has the potential to make the most difference as well as a formulation that we believe has the potential to treat milder forms of disease Our gene therapy platform is advancing with promising Phase 1 2 hemophilia A data but is expected to support the Phase 3 start this year This would be our second gene therapy pivotal study following the ongoing hemophilia B Phase 3 study In addition our DMD gene therapy program is gathering additional robust patient data building on the progress we served at the current project muscular dystrophy conference last June We are preparing for an expected POC in the first half of 2020 and the Phase 3 pivotal study start in second half of this year We look forward to successfully completing the Phase 3 studies for our investigational 20 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate in adults and remain on track to submit the Biologics License Application to the FDA by the end of this year Pfizer s candidate represents a potential significant advancement compared with the potential 15 valent If successful in Phase 3 and approved the five additional serotypes may provide coverage against approximately 33 more strains that cause invasive pneumococcal disease in adults and 42 more strains causing the disease in infants in the United States For our maternal vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus RSV we are preparing for an expected POC in the second quarter of 2020 followed by potentially swift progression to Phase 3 We look forward to sharing more updates on our pipeline during our upcoming Investor Day on March 31 In summary we finished 2019 with strong momentum and we look forward to continuing that momentum in 2020 During the year we generated a solid financial performance further advanced our strong R D pipeline and took bold actions to reshape Pfizer into an innovation powerhouse that will build on our legacy of delivering breakthroughs that change patients lives Now I will turn it over to Frank to provide details on the quarter and our outlook for the remainder of 2020 Frank Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsThanks Albert Good day everyone Now moving on to the financials Fourth quarter 2019 revenues were 12 7 billion down 8 operationally versus the year ago quarter Excluding the impact of the Consumer Healthcare business revenue was down 1 operationally Our Biopharmaceuticals Group business revenues were 10 5 billion up 9 operationally versus the year ago quarter with strong operational growth in Ibrance Eliquis Xeljanz and Vyndaqel and a second straight quarter of operational growth for our hospital business including our sterile injectables Revenues for our Upjohn business in the fourth quarter decreased 32 operationally to 2 2 billion with the primary year over year impact again being generic competition for Lyrica in the US that began in July of 2019 Excluding the unfavorable impact of Lyrica in the US and other recent product losses of exclusivity fourth quarter 2019 revenues for Upjohn declined 6 operationally I know Upjohn s business in China has been an area of focus and fourth quarter revenues for Upjohn declined 1 operationally We saw the expected revenue declines for Lipitor and Norvasc in provinces where the volume based procurement program has been implemented and these declines were mostly offset by operational growth from products not impacted by the VBP program including Celebrex and Viagra Adjusted cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was favorably impacted by the July completion of the Consumer Healthcare joint venture transaction with GSK partially offset by the negative impact of foreign exchange and the Lyrica loss of exclusivity In the fourth quarter we recorded a 0 06 loss per share on a GAAP basis which was primarily due to a 2 6 billion asset impairment charge for Eucrisa and restructuring purchase accounting and legal charges Adjusted diluted EPS for the fourth quarter was 0 55 versus 0 63 in the year ago quarter The decrease was primarily due to lower revenues again mainly due to the Lyrica LOE in the US and higher operating expenses I want to point out that diluted weighted average shares outstanding declined by 281 million shares compared to the year ago quarter reflecting the impact of shares repurchased during 2018 and 2019 and partially offset by dilution related to share based employee compensation programs Finally foreign exchange had a negative impact of 158 million or 1 on fourth quarter 2019 revenues and a 0 03 negative impact on adjusted diluted EPS compared to the year ago quarter As you can see on the chart our 9 operational growth in the Biopharma business was driven by strong performance by Ibrance Eliquis Xeljanz Xtandi Vyndaqel and Inlyta Moving on to 2019 financial guidance As you can see on the chart we met or exceeded all components of our 2019 financial guidance Now I want to highlight how our 2020 guidance compares to 2019 revenue and adjusted diluted EPS Starting on the left side of the slide our 2019 results reflect partial year contributions from the Consumer Healthcare business segment which we deconsolidated in the third quarter of 2019 Excluding 2 1 billion in revenues generated from the Consumer Healthcare business segment total Company 2019 revenues were 49 7 billion and 2019 adjusted diluted EPS is 2 95 For 2020 the adjusted diluted EPS guidance range reflects Pfizer s share of the Consumer Healthcare joint venture s earnings that were generated in fourth quarter 2019 and will be reported in the first quarter 2020 along with Pfizer s share of the JV s anticipated earnings for the first three quarters of 2020 As you can see the midpoint of our 2020 guidance range for revenues implies comparable performance to 2019 revenues after excluding the partial year contribution from Consumer Healthcare as well as an anticipated 200 million favorable impact from foreign exchange based on mid January 2020 rates compared to last year Despite an anticipated 2 4 billion in LOE headwinds in 2020 we expect the midpoint of the revenue range to remain flat operationally excluding Consumer Healthcare Now let s go through the full details of our 2020 financial guidance for total Company As we ve said we are expecting the close of the transaction between our Upjohn business and Mylan to be completed in mid 2020 So we are providing three sets of guidance First total Company which reflects our current construct of the Biopharma and Upjohn businesses and excludes any impact from the pending Upjohn combination with Mylan second New Pfizer which is a full year pro forma view that reflects the impact of the pending fee interest transaction by removing Upjohn and including 12 billion in cash proceeds from Upjohn to New Pfizer and other transaction related factors such as transitional service agreement revenue and third Upjohn as a stand alone business All of these scenarios are based on a full year of revenues and expenses in 2020 Beginning with total Company 2020 revenue guidance of 48 5 billion to 50 5 billion reflects anticipated continued strong momentum in our Biopharma business primarily offset by the continued negative impact of product losses of exclusivity in our Upjohn business primarily Lyrica in the US Moving on to other elements of our 2020 financial guidance for total Company compared with 2019 actual results the midpoints of these ranges imply higher adjusted cost of sales as a percentage of revenues due to the continued impact from the Lyrica LOE higher adjusted R D expenses and higher adjusted other income which reflects earnings from the Consumer Healthcare joint venture and lower adjusted SI A expenses and adjusted diluted EPS In 2020 financial guidance for adjusted EPS assumes no new share repurchases and we will focus instead on increasing the dividend and investing in the business during this period of growth As a result our guidance for adjusted diluted EPS assumes diluted weighted average shares outstanding of approximately 5 65 billion shares which is approximately the same as 2019 Moving on to financial guidance for New Pfizer for the full year 2020 we now anticipate full year 2020 revenues between 40 7 billion and 42 3 billion with the midpoint of the guidance range representing 8 operational growth as compared to 2019 Biopharma revenues excluding Meridian and Mylan Japan and an improvement from our initial July targets This guidance range excludes 600 million of contributions from Meridian a Pfizer subsidiary and manufacturer of EpiPen and other autoinjector products as well as from the strategic collaboration with Mylan in Japan for the development manufacturing and marketing of generic medicines Due to an organization realignment both of these assets have shifted to Upjohn effective at the start of 2020 Both Meridian and Mylan Japan will be reported in Pfizer s Upjohn business beginning in first quarter 2020 We now anticipate full year 2020 adjusted IBT as a percentage of revenue of approximately 37 also an improvement from July We anticipate the midpoint of the guidance range for adjusted diluted EPS to be 2 30 The operating cash flow guidance range remains approximately 11 billion to 12 billion This EPS guidance reflects the 12 billion cash that Pfizer will receive upon the close of the combination of Upjohn with Mylan which will be used to pay down debt during 2020 As you can see the midpoints for New Pfizer s 2020 revenue and adjusted IBT margin guidance have improved materially since our preliminary 2020 projections were presented in July in conjunction with the announcement of the proposed Mylan and Upjohn combination We have provided a bridge from our initial July targets to this current guidance on the bottom of the chart for clarity Upon the close of the Mylan Upjohn combination and once we become New Pfizer you can expect the same level of detail in our 2020 guidance that we provided today for total Company Moving on to 2020 financial guidance for Upjohn for the full year 2020 we anticipate revenues of 8 billion to 8 5 billion reflecting the continued negative impact of losses of exclusivity for products such as Lyrica in the US which began facing multi source generic competition in July 2019 and the expansion of the volume based procurement program in China and reflecting the inclusion of revenues and expenses associated with Meridian and Mylan Japan We anticipate full year 2020 adjusted EBITDA for the Upjohn business of 3 8 billion to 4 2 billion Other than the inclusion of revenues and expenses associated with Meridian and Mylan Japan there are no operational changes to Upjohn s 2020 financial guidance compared with preliminary financial targets provided in July of 2019 Again we have provided a bridge from our initial July targets to this current guidance at the bottom of the chart Moving on to key takeaways regarding 2019 We delivered a strong fourth quarter with our Biopharma business growing 9 operationally which represents our go forward business after the pending combination of Upjohn and Mylan We provided 2020 guidance ranges for total Company New Pfizer and Upjohn Importantly we are projecting strong organic revenue growth for New Pfizer in 2020 We accomplished key product and pipeline milestones since our previous quarterly update And we returned 16 9 billion to shareholders in 2019 through a combination of dividends and share repurchases Looking ahead we remain committed to delivering attractive shareholder returns in 2020 and beyond Now I ll turn it back to Chuck Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsThanks Frank and Albert for those remarks At this time operator can we please poll for questions Questions and Answers Operator Operator Instructions Your first question comes from Randall Stanicky from RBC Capital Markets Randall Stanicky RBC Capital Markets AnalystGreat Thanks guys for the questions I have two one for Albert and one for Angela Albert a couple of weeks ago you called out 4 5 billion in enabling costs in SI A with an opportunity to simplify So how do we how do we think about the cost savings opportunity after you close Upjohn in terms of number one how much incremental cost savings do you see beyond what is built into the 37 margin And then number two how much of that could hit back half 2020 versus 2021 And then I have a follow up after that for Angela Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerOkay I think you should how can he ask the question to Angela now Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsHe can get back Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerHe can get back Okay All right So indeed we have this year approximately 14 3 billion of SI A and I will ask Frank to run the numbers in more details And as I said for the half approximately is what we call enabling functions These are functions like finance legal HR facilities that they are facilitating and enabling the core functions of our business to perform core functions I mean R D that is discovering the products manufacturing that is making them happen and commercial that is making them available to the patients We do believe that this for the half billions and actually approximately 10 000 people can be improved And we have plans to do so In the current guidance and I will ask Frank to comment there is a part a small part of that cost opportunity saving already incorporated And in 2021 it will be a much bigger part So Frank Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsSo Randall just let me run the numbers which is if you look at 2019 actual SI A for example we spent about 14 billion as a company Obviously that 4 5 billion that Albert alluded to in that 14 billion If you look at our 2020 guidance for SI A the range is 12 billion to 13 billion midpoint 12 5 billion 12 5 billion from 14 billion is a decline of 1 5 billion Now roughly half of that is consumer Because we went from consolidating Consumer to equity accounting on Consumer once the deal closed in July 31 of 2019 The remaining half is really operational savings across the Company including part of the including some of the 4 5 billion that Albert alluded to And that obviously helped contribute to the IBT as a percentage of revenue improving from 35 from the mid 30s to 37 And then to Albert s point obviously what we re doing now is working on further improvements that would obviously positively impact the SI A and that was floated upon Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGreat Thanks Albert and Frank Next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Chris Schott from JPMorgan Chris Schott JPMorgan AnalystGreat thanks very much for the question Just had three quick product ones The first was on Vyndaqel It seems like a nice step up in all your patient metrics seems like all those basically doubled or tripled from 3Q Can you help bridge those figures with the sequential sales ramp we saw which wasn t quite as dramatic The second question was on Ibrance Just elaboration there in terms of what drove the revised timelines for PALLAS and have you taken another interim look at the data at this point And then finally on tanezumab just an update in terms of what the status and outlook is for that product at this point Thanks so much Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerVery good Thank you very much I will ask Angela to address the Vyndaqel and tanezumab questions and then I will say a few words about Ibrance and maybe I will ask Mikael to chime in Please Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupYeah So thanks for the question And certainly we are pleased with the increased diagnosis prescription as well as the numbers of patients that are receiving Vyndaqel As you said our diagnosis now is up to about 9 the ability for patients to receive prescriptions up to about 64 of those that are diagnosed and those that are receiving medications are around 35 of those that are diagnosed and every quarter since we ve been reporting this we ve been seeing some nice increases So we re certainly pleased with that I think in terms of just the sort of the commensurate alignment with the actual net sales numbers I think that there are obviously there every single day this is a dynamic situation and the number and the proportion of patients whether they are Medicare and commercial lives those are changing And so the gross to nets of those are going to affect I think what you see on a net sales basis So I think that we are watching and really focused on driving diagnosis and ensuring that as many patients can get on these drugs as possible and we re starting to see some really nice pickup But I think that is still a very dynamic situation because we re really relatively new in this process So we ll continue to monitor and should expect to see some quarter to quarter changes in terms of net sales Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAnd obviously the new patients are contributing disproportionately because they are in fewer months of treatment in terms of sales Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupRight And then your second question was on tanezumab So we re really pleased that in December of 2019 we completed our US submission of tanezumab and we are also pursuing regulatory submissions in the EU and in Japan This submission was done in close collaboration with the FDA and it includes the 2 5 milligram in moderate to severe osteoarthritis patients So at this moment in time we re awaiting acceptance of this filing But we see significant potential of tanezumab in osteoarthritis So we re really excited about this filing particularly because we re in a time where non opioid solutions are very very much needed for these patients If you look at the market potential today there are about 27 million Americans that suffer from osteoarthritis and 11 million of those have moderate to severe OA 80 of those 11 million people have tried and failed three or more analgesics So that tells us that there is just a huge amount of unmet need in this patient population Patients are cycling through a number of pain medications and there just is an incredible need for new options and this is where we think tanezumab can really fill an unmet need It has the potential to become the first in class non opioid treatment for these patients and we eagerly await the acceptance of this file from the FDA Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you Now let me address the question on Ibrance The expected completion of the study slipped a little bit a few weeks actually It was at the end of the 19 excuse me at the end of 20 and now it s moved into the very beginning of 21 The only reason of this is that the events are not coming at the pace that we had forecasted and expected So in other means people are not progressing into their disease I don t think we can draw any conclusions if that means a good news or bad news I think it s just facts of the data We don t know if the people aren t progressing equally in the two arms or they aren t progressing in the treatment arm That remains to be seen when we unblind the date As regards to your question if there was an interim analysis there was not an interim analysis So we haven t seen an interim analysis There will be an interim analysis but we do not expect that the most likely scenario is that the study will continue when this interim analysis comes The study was designed to come to full completion and the criteria that we have set to start for efficacy in the interim study are very very high So it s not impossible that this will happen but most likely scenario it is that as we had planned that the study will come to completion at the end of it this is what will happen We are very we still remain very very encouraged and optimistic about Ibrance Of course it s a Phase 3 You never know what it would be But all the science behind it is supporting that we could have a positive outcome And I will ask actually Mikael to make few comments on the science and what does this mean Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalI ll just punctuate a few things that Albert described so well Four aspect of why we are very excited and optimistic about the science and clinical data to predict a potential positive outcome for the discussed PALLAS study As you know first of all that the CDK4 6 inhibitor Ibrance converge with SGN receptor drives to stop cancer cells or breast cancer cells to divide We have shown that in the PALOMA 2 and 3 studies and more recently we reported that we could reproduce data direction in real world evidence based on real world data from Flatiron and other databases and this is noteworthy including also overall survival data again showing in medical practice the importance of these drugs Three the PALLAS study that looked at the ability of palbociclib Ibrance to stop dividing of SGN receptor positive breast cancer showed that this mechanism was very well operating in a powerful way And finally let me remind you that other agents that act on SGN receptor positive breast cancers and converge with the palbociclib such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors all were initially developed in metastatic cancer and did very well in adjuvant treatment in early breast cancer So these four observations and others makes us continue to be excited and very optimistic And as Albert alluded to a relatively small change in projected trial is based on the trial that actually started four and a half years ago and it is quite common that in the final 12 months or so minor changes in enrollment rate and process planning for study reports can affect a trial But with all of this you can hear we remain encouraged enthusiastic about what Ibrance can offer for adjuvant treatment of breast cancer Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsRight Thanks for the helpful context Michael Next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Terence Flynn from Goldman Sachs Terence C Flynn Goldman Sachs AnalystHi thanks for taking the questions Maybe just two product ones for me I was wondering if you can talk about Ibrance s rest of world dynamics any specific headwinds this quarter and how to think about the trajectory into end of this year And then for Xeljanz I was wondering if you can give us a split of sales by indication and if you re seeing any impact in RA from the launch of AbbVie s Rinvoq on either share price Thank you Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you very very much So Angela Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupSure So first of all on Ibrance We continue to see good growth and strong growth ex US But probably two factors that are tempering the net sales as you saw in Q4 The first is pricing and that continues to be something that we work hard at especially in EU to gain access for our products in Europe And the second is class growth So if you look at the class growth of the CDK class through the quarters that has increased but over the last quarter it has tempered and it s sort of sitting at around a 35 CDK class growth right now class share But within that the Ibrance still has a very very high product share in the 80s So I think it s pointing out to us the fact that there is still opportunity for us to grow and that growing the CDK class is going to be an area of our tremendous focus for us ex US in 2020 and beyond Your second question was around Xeljanz And so Xeljanz again we continue to see excellent growth in Xeljanz In fact despite the fact that you only see this sort of 1 net sales growth in Q4 I ll point out that globally full year we had 29 growth of Xeljanz which is one of the highest of all of our core brands here at Pfizer in our entire portfolio Q4 we saw 23 prescription growth and this prescription growth was driven by extremely strong performance in rheumatoid arthritis which really was not impacted by the label changes And we still continue to see strong growth in ulcerative colitis even though here was the biggest label change and so physicians that have to adjust the way that they were prescribing Xeljanz But we expect this growth to continue because we have excellent momentum and confidence in prescribing from our physicians We have significant unmet need And we have greatly improved access And this access is in fact what drove the 1 net sales in Q4 There was a in Q4 of 18 we saw an inventory build at the end of the year which didn t happen in Q4 19 So that was one of the reasons that affected our Q4 performance in 19 and then also and more importantly throughout the course of 2019 we gained significant access In fact we added 59 million incremental lives through contracting and it s because of the timing of when these contracts were signed or renewed that drove the subsequent impacts of rebates and this sort of came to a head and sort of disproportionately affected us in Q4 of 19 So I think stepping back we re really pleased with the access that we do have in Xeljanz since it was launched eight years ago This is the most favorable access situation that we ve ever had which is very important when it comes to our ability to compete with Rinvoq You asked a question around Rinvoq Just to sort of put into perspective I think that we are excited about having another competitor help drive the growth of the JAK class in all of our indications That being said Xeljanz still enjoys a leading market share especially in RA where we have more than 15 of the market share of the entire class Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsRight Thank you very much Angela Next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Umer Raffat from Evercore Umer Raffat Evercore ISI AnalystHi thanks so much for taking my question First Albert if I may what are you hearing on a possible upcoming rule on IPI There s a lot of press that companies have been notified by White House I was curious what you know about it and if there s something we should be very concerned about Mikael two quick ones one quick one for you on the DMD gene therapy for a minute You mentioned there is a proof of concept coming My question is have there been additional protocol driven pauses in enrollment and I asked because recall when the first SAE and acute kidney injury happened the trial was paused and I m curious has anything like that happened again And then finally Frank maybe just quickly on SI A line I know it s a little higher than consensus but technically year over year versus 4Q 18 it wasn t that much higher but I also realized 4Q 18 had some Consumer Maybe if you could just tell us about your holiday party Thank you very much Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAll right so let me start with the IPI We have not received any notification on that So there is no news from our side other than what we read on the newspaper So Mikael Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYeah Just to remind you we shared at the PPMD conference mid of last year update on six patients dosed with our DMD gene therapy that showed encouraging data on expression new muscle fibers amount to micro dystrophin and on some of the patients we had also an opportunity to report the encouraging trends on functional outcomes We have dosed additional patients since then And we continue to garner experience on efficacy safety and clinical management that are incorporated in the procedures how we manage these patients going forward We plan to conclude Phase 2 this spring And based on current data and insights we are planning to start Phase 3 of course pending regulatory dialogs later this year as indicated in Albert s opening remarks Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAll right Frank Maybe you want to tell us about the holiday party I was not invited to Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsSure Yes I wasn t invited either So I m busy since the party Well let me run the numbers and I ll explain what happened So for the quarter SI A all in was about 4 1 billion It was up about 4 operationally 100 million give or take from the prior year quarter What really drove that was increased investment behind some of our brands some of our oncology products some of our launch products like Vyndaqel and some increased investments in emerging markets but it was really investment in terms of supporting our brands Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYeah Thank you Mikael And just to make a comment we are very very diligent in the way that we allocate capital And we are when we have opportunities to put in promotional money so we can have a very strong start we do it And we spend those money usually by being very diligent in the way that we control the indirect expense I have been very clear but direct with indirect is a very clear distinction in our mind So when it comes to things that they are overheads and things that they are not affecting directly the business results we are very very tough And when it comes to areas that the investments can affect business results we are creative and generous So that s what we associate Umer Raffat Evercore ISI AnalystAnd these are clearly direct expense spend Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAnd these are all direct expense spends And the same by the way although you didn t ask comes to R D Right now we are increasing R D investments but we are increasing R D investments only for programs only for projects We are not increasing for infrastructure we are not increasing for research centers At large we maintain a very strong presence there and we keep that very strong But what is driving the increased R D it is more Phase 3 or Phase 2 studies It s very clear Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsRight Thank you Next question please operator OperatorYour next question comes from David Risinger from Morgan Stanley David Reed Risinger Morgan Stanley AnalystYes Thanks very much So I have three questions please First Albert could you discuss why Pfizer decided not to repurchase shares in 2020 And then maybe Frank you can comment on how we should think about the EPS implications when we consider your guidance relative to consensus which had assumed some share repurchase Second regarding the opportunity to rationalize the 4 5 billion in costs could you just give us a sense for what percentage reduction is reasonable to assume a few years out I was guessing maybe 20 But I just don t know what s reasonable And then third regarding the transfer of 600 million in revenue to Upjohn does that change the economics that Pfizer will receive as part of the exit to Mylan Thank you Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYes I think basically all questions can be answered by Frank I would just make some introductory comments The reason why in our capital allocation we are allocating right now money to increase the dividend and also to invest in our business all the opex to modernize our facilities all the capex to modernize our facilities The reason why we don t do right now share repurchase is because we want to make sure that we maintain very strong firepower to invest in the business The past was a very different Pfizer The past of the last decade had to deal with declining of revenues constant declining of revenues And we had to do what we had to do even if that was financing visionary We couldn t invest them and create higher value Now is a very different situation We are a very different company The Company is going to have best in class top line growth revenue story starting from now from the separation of Upjohn in the middle of the year from the expected separation of Upjohn in the middle of the year And we do not need We can organically grow EPS As you can see all our projections on EPS this year are organically Indecipherable but we can use the capital to invest in good Phase 2 Phase 3 assets that will build our pipeline So this is the strategy behind it Now let me ask Frank to run the numbers Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsSo David all I ll do is I don t want to duplicate anything Albert said I ll just add a couple of things on the share repurchases One we also announced a dividend increase in December So obviously we continue to deploy capital in the area of dividends which we think is important to our investment thesis And that s something obviously as we go forward we ll continue to look at and then obviously our 2020 guidance assumes no repurchases So when you look at the improvement which is material in terms of the midpoint versus what we did back in July none of that is coming from share repurchases Now let me answer your other couple of questions On the 600 million transfer to Upjohn and does that change any of the economics Let me kind of let me give some context on this which is one nothing has been decided yet We are still in negotiations with Mylan on those two businesses and whether or not they will transfer the Viatris upon close By the way if we don t come to an agreement those businesses would remain with New Pfizer And so we re still in negotiations And so in terms of the economics I d say more to come still to be determined and if and when we complete that obviously I ll be in a better position to answer that On the 4 5 billion of indirect spend and directionally what do we think we can do there I don t want to give a specific percentage because we re still working our way through the process But I think I alluded to this earlier which is we ve already made some nice headway I think we can make additional headway That additional headway would show up in SI A and obviously our intent would be for that to show up in the IBT as a percentage of revenue line So that s what we re working to do Our intent is to improve upon those numbers And as we work our way through the process and as we have more to report we ll make sure we do so Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you Frank Just a comment on the reasons why we transfer those business to Upjohn Both on these businesses first of all they fit more under Upjohn in terms of the dynamics that they have so they can be managed much better And secondly I think they fit very nicely with Mylan because one it is the EpiPen predominantly business that Mylan is but right now it s shared between the Mylan we are providing for them And the second it is say a partnership that we have with Mylan that was established years back and with generic Indecipherable So both of them fit much better in Viatris and that s the reason why we separated them And also that will allow you to have in case that this happens a much more cleaner view of a growth trajectory of the Company because now you know exactly what will be the P L of the remaining company Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsThank you Next question please operator OperatorYour next question comes from Louise Chen from Cantor Louise Alesandra Chen Cantor Fitzgerald AnalystHi thanks for taking my questions here So I had a few My first question is is the 6 approximately 6 five year sales CAGR for stand alone Pfizer the New Pfizer still hold Second question I had is how much of a priority is M A for you under the New Pfizer and what kind of size of deals or types of deals are you most interested in And last question I have is on the PCV dataset that s coming through You and a competitor also have a whole set of PCV data I m just curious how you see that landscape evolving over time Thank you Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYeah Thank you very very much Louise Let me start with the 6 CAGR if it still holds absolutely It s still holds Actually as you can see if anything else this business what we are projecting five years CAGR all the way to 25 actually CAGR of 6 This year performed at 8 9 for the quarter and we are projecting 8 for 2020 So definitely we are on good let s say way to achieve that As regards the M A yes the M A is a very important part of our strategy and as I just alluded before this is why also we are not diluting our firepower with stock purchases right now because we do believe that we can create significant value with the right strategic move Now we never say never to anything But strategically we have made very clear that we are not interested in for a big M A that will have cost synergies as value driver because first of all that would be like diluting our top line growth I don t think there are many companies that they can have this type of growth trajectory that we have in the next few years Second it could be disruptive because having a big M A means that the thousands of people will have to work on integrations rather than supporting all these products that we just saw that are growing in 20s and 30s and also all this pipeline that is coming up So we never say never but this is not our strategy Our strategy for M A it is to be able to have Phase 2 Phase 3 programs ready Phase 2 Phase 3 which could become potential medicines in the period 25 26 27 28 so that we can augment our internal pipeline and be able that we maintain this 6 growth for the long term actually for the very very long term because it s right now five years I would say is the long term And the other thing that I want to emphasize it is that the 6 CAGR it is risk adjusted I repeat it is risk adjusted That means that in our projections we are adjusting all the non read studies right now appropriate Now if all the Phase 3 goals in the right way and they are all successful it s not going to be 6 It is going to be double digits 12 13 14 15 Now if everything fails also will not be 6 will be very low But these statistics works and the studies and let s say at 50 more or less are successful that means that we will achieve 6 That s why I want to emphasize that there is no binary event in our projections Binary event would be if the 6 was dependent on two or three major results that if they could go one way or another could affect Right now they are dependent on 15 16 17 blockbusters and then many other that are much smaller So then Frank maybe something to add on that before I ask Mikael to comment on specific data Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsAnd Louise the only thing I wanted to add just to punctuate everything Albert said is and why are we focusing on Phase 2b Phase 3 is because the LOEs really start to kick in 2007 So if you think about we re in January of 2020 we literally have 8 years to work our way through this problem And by the way given that kind of a timeframe given the breadth and strength of our pipeline given our balance sheet our capacity obviously we feel confident we will be able to solve it Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerMikael Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYeah I m pleased that you asked about our Indecipherable next generation So as you know we have adult and pediatric studies ongoing The adult study has been given breakthrough designation on 28 September based on our encouraging Phase 2 data and we expect very soon to report Phase 3 outcome of the adult PCV20 trial And obviously we are optimistic about that outcome based on the Phase 2 and the breakthrough designation On the pediatric we have now accumulated further Indecipherable dose data of the PCV20 Phase 2 study These data from the Indecipherable further substantiate the positive data reported in the press release of the Indecipherable and we expect initiation of Phase 3 soon for the infant vaccine pending discussions with regulators The full dataset will be presented at the major vaccine related conference likely mid of this year Now Albert commented also in his introduction very nicely on the improved relative coverage of the PCV20 from us versus a potential competitor 15 valent And he mentioned 33 better coverage for adults and 42 better coverage in the US for infants obviously very important significant better coverage I just wanted to punctuate when you look in the top European market similar improved coverage in adults is actually 62 to 100 in infants 80 to 200 This is all for invasive pneumococcal disease Also in US we have analyzed for community acquired pneumonia where we see substantial data coverage for the 20 versus a potential 15 valent So all in all you can see we look forward to data sets advancing the program and think it would be the premier 20 valent and premier pneumococcal vaccine for patients Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsThank you Next question please operator OperatorYour next question comes from Steve Scala from Cowen Stephen Michael Scala Cowen and Company AnalystThank you I have a few questions An increase in the dividend was mentioned twice but it sounds as though Upjohn will be spun not split in which case the dividend will be reduced So I m wondering if you could clarify the dividend comment and I assume the 2020 EPS guidance implies a spin not a split Secondly on the abrocitinib versus dupixent study given the fact that it is completed Mikael I m wondering if the data met the very positive portrayal you provided on the Q3 call which included superior itch relief to dupixent And then lastly will the proof of concept DMD data be presented at the March 31 meeting Thank you very much Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerWell thank you very much Steve Very good question So Frank why don t you clarify once more the dividend Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsSure So Steve in terms of the guidance you are right it assumes a spin not a split And then in terms of the dividend you said I think you said in your question it d be a reduction I don t see it that way What we ve said is the sum of Viatris dividend and our dividend would equal the current dividend that a Pfizer shoulder receives today So I don t see a reduction in the dividend The dividend income will be kept whole I think we ve been very clear about that all along Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAnd we ll continue growing maybe not at the same pace which we do right now it s 0 02 per quarter but we ll continue growing Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsRight And Steve I can quickly run the numbers for you if you d like just so what do you think What Viatris has said is their first full year of about 4 billion of free cash flow they d pay about 25 of that in the dividends so that s 1 Phonetic billion Total Viatris will have about 1 2 billion shares you put the 1 billion over 1 2 billion shares it s about 0 83 The exchange ratio is about 1 2 Phonetic You put a 100 shares of Pfizer you get 12 shares of Viatris assuming a spin that s roughly 10 a share We would reduce our dividend on an annual basis by that 10 but some of our dividend plus that 10 Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive Officer 0 10 Frank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business Operations 0 10 I m sorry yeah thank you would equal what Pfizer s only gets today And my thing it s 10 not 0 10 Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerOkay Stephen Michael Scala Cowen and Company AnalystAbrocitinib Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYes So thank you for your interest in abrocitinib And we believe that it s going to be a new drug class for such a prevalent disease that affects tens of millions of Americans atopic dermatitis and where an oral alternative seems to be a real patient and physician preference We will soon report out the data from the important COMPARE study So I haven t actually seen the data so I can only punctuate a little bit what we discussed at earlier investor meetings that the historical comparison between abrocitinib and Dupixent suggest that we should expect to see similar or better impact on clearing skin And particularly as Albert alluded to in his introduction there is an important key secondary endpoint looking at itch relief starting with a readout already of two weeks and then following the study through the 12 to 16 weeks And the historical data suggests that we should be very optimistic about abrocitinib outperforming biological such as Dupixent on itch relief at earlier time points and provide the potential benefit of early onset of relief for disease Now we have to wait for the data to be able to obviously be absolutely confident in that outcome but this is what I believe and look forward very much to see the data come shortly Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAnd on the DMD question Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYeah We are finalizing I think the program for the R D Day So I can t be absolutely promise you but I think it s likely that such an interesting program as the DMD gene therapy will be one of the potential agenda items And obviously we would like to then share updates from increased number of patients over a longer time period So please welcome and take a front row seat Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you very much both And by the way Frank as always was right It is 10 for 20 shares of Mylan Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsAll right Move on to our next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Geoff Meacham from Bank of America Geoff Meacham Bank of America AnalystGood morning guys Thanks so much for the question Just have a couple Mikael the gene therapy platform with the advancement of hemophilia A and B as well as DMD into Phase 3 what s the capacity to add additional indications to the portfolio I mean you guys have been successful partnering but at this point it does seem like you could expand the platform organically in a material way And then for Angela on Xtandi I just wanted to get your perspective on the inroads you ve made in M0 prostate patients and where do you think could represent a tipping point commercially especially given that generic Zytiga available in the US Thank you Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerMikael Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYes So Geoff you are showing Indecipherable for the gene therapy platform and what is particularly I think a strategic advantage for us is the end to end capability from discovery clinical manufacturing and of course that capability is also linked to important external partners that gives us capacity to advance increasing number of internal as well as partner programs And we have an option for the Vivet Wilson disease program that could in a relatively near term future be available for clinical studies And we expect from internal and external initiative to aspire to about bringing one new gene therapy into the clinic every year or so for the next period to come And we think that should build up a very comprehensive gene therapy portfolio The three programs you alluded to are of course the frontier for us with factor IX that we hope to be the first company bringing that over the finish line in Phase 3 now and to start additional two Phase 3s for hemae Phonetic where we think we have a best in class profile so far And then we already spoke about the NDA Phonetic Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you very much Angela Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupSure So in terms of the M0 the non metastatic CRPC I mean what we re seeing here is just tremendous growth and tremendous performance Just broadly speaking in terms of Xtandi we had a great quarter right We grew 29 and this was driven by two things One was actually demand across both metastatic as well as non metastatic but also what we saw was the continued expansion of the actual class the novel hormone therapies And in this class Xtandi has the lion s share We have about 35 share right now So first of all to answer your question vis a vis generic Zytiga we really don t see a competition from a generic versus brand in this instance I think the competition Zytiga is really among generic Zytiga versus branded Zytiga whereas what we re seeing here is a clear uptick in Xtandi and specifically from the prostate trial in this M0 population as you say we are continuing to see As I ve talked about in all the previous quarters really really significant and very confident and uptake in urology prescribing And we do believe that this is underpinning the growth of our non metastatic population And the fact that these are patients also earlier in their disease is helpful in driving our growth in this population I also mentioned that just from a market share perspective though the non metastatic the M0 population has Xtandi Erleada as well as Nubeqa Xtandi by far and away has the leading market share in this segment and has been from the time that it was launched Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGreat Thank you Angela Next question please operator OperatorYour next question comes from Tim Anderson from Wolfe Research Tim Anderson Wolfe Research AnalystThank you A couple of questions One is on Prevenar in China So sales have been ramping up there but the regulatory authorities recently approved a domestically produced 13 valent product and the CEO of that company suggest they have capacity that s in the 10s of millions of doses and who knows if that s true or not But I m wondering if you can give some perspective on how you see competitive dynamics in a situation like this going forward not only in China where a domestic producer could potentially benefit from favoritism but also if that company were to take their product into other markets outside of China at a different price point I think a lot of investors assume vaccines are durable forever but I m wondering if this sort of thing could be disruptive and how you take the sort of potential competition into your forecast Second question is on M A So any M A that you may engage with in 2020 Should we assume at least during this first six month window while you still have Upjohn that that is probably put on hold And then last question on Vyndaqel Might there be a low hanging fruit phenomenon where we see initial nice uptake but then it kind of flattens out suddenly Or do you expect this will be continued strong linear growth Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you very much I will give a quick answer to your M A question Tim and then Angela can deal with Prevenar China growth On M A no the answer is no absolutely not We are very actively looking to invest capital on value creation opportunities And then I assume that we will have several of them in the first half of 2020 before the close of the deal Again across the lines that I have described you know exactly what we re doing We want to make sure that we sustain the growth beyond 2027 when the alloys will have some impact Angela what about Prevenar China Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupSure So we have acknowledge that there is a new competitor in the form of Volvax Phonetic in PCV13 However I want to recognize that there are some differences here Though it is a 13 valent vaccine Volvax s vaccine is made with a different conjugate And this conjugate technology being an older technology so quite different from what we see in PCV13 That being said it is a competitor However if you sort of step back and look at the opportunity that we have in pneumococcal vaccinations there are approximately 14 million new births every year in China and today only over maybe 1 of those infants are being vaccinated So regardless of the volumes that Volvax might have available I think the opportunity between us is just much larger than that And we have a tremendous amount of untapped potential in the marketplace and we are confident that with the quality the reliability as well as the tremendous experience that Pfizer has had globally with PCV13 but also the tremendous success that we ve had in China specifically for PCV13 that our growth will continue And this is what we expect We have a very robust footprint As you know the vaccines and it will be the same for Volvax PCV13 This is an out of pocket market and it will be the same for the both of us So this is where we ll be competing which is why having a robust promotional engine and having a footprint of representatives that can really be available to support patients and caregivers at the points of vaccinations is really important And I think in this regard we have demonstrated great expertise and ability to grow this market So that s how we see it We acknowledge the competition but we continue to see tremendous potential Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerWhat about Vyndaqel Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupAll right So in terms of Vyndaqel so yes of course in the year of launch one might expect to see a little bit of a bolus a number of patients who have been identified and are awaiting diagnosis and treatment That being said we are confident of what we we re confident about what we ve learned in the marketplace in our first year of launch We are confident that we have the right set of tools for helping to physicians to suspect the patients that might have ATTR CM We have mobilized education around using non invasive methods like scintigraphy to diagnose patients And we have also mobilized a patient support hub to help patients receive their medications So I think doing more of that as well as continuing to think about new methods to help diagnose and treat patients such as using artificial intelligence and increased number of tools all of that will continue to support our ability to drive the important and rapid diagnosis of patients as well as their treatment Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGreat Thank you Next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Andrew Baum from Citi Andrew Baum Citi AnalystThank you Couple of questions please Firstly on your pending oncology biosimilars rollout in the US Given the challenges to start with biosimilar penetration could you talk to your expectations particularly with these three drugs there should be an economic incentive for payers given the pass through But yes those issues in patients already on an established Indecipherable biosimilar to switch and it s a brand to switch to biosimilar So if you could give us some kind of sense of how much penetration and how quickly you may expect that would be super helpful And then second in terms of tafamidis Angela you tried to give some penetration figures at the beginning which I was struggling to keep up with and writedown But just more broadly could you outline how large you think the untapped patient population really is here and how far Pfizer is along in establishing that market Many thanks Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerAngela a lot of questions for you today Please go ahead Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupOkay Sure All right So I think firstly we see the dynamics in oncology biosimilar as being very different from that of the what we saw for inflammation in the form of Inflectra So to your point about how will the dynamics change here and how quickly can payers as well as providers capture their savings is going to be much quicker This is the use of oncology biosimilars are much more rapid right You see more patients cycling through treatment times are much shorter So that s going to enable payers them providers to capture savings much more quickly which is a very different dynamic that you see in Inflectra where it s a chronic treatment and patients are on their treatment for a very long time So I think that s one big difference The second is that there is already some we already have some precedents We saw this with Retacrit where after a year of being in the market Indecipherable supportive care in oncology We already have 20 market share This is still a far cry from what we see in Europe where there is much more rapid uptake But I think that s it s a signal an indicator of the differences you see in the various biosimilar markets And we also have some early signals from competitor biosimilars that have already some good market share in oncology biosimilars So I think that we have some good indicators that this is going to be different I think the benefit that we see here is that we have a portfolio of three oncology biosimilars all coming out around the similar time like around now And I think what we have we have a robust pricing strategy discount to the WACC Phonetic of the originator as well as I think strong relationships and networks built with both providers and payers that give us confidence that this will be an area of high growth for Pfizer Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerThank you Angela Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupAnd then your question was around tafamidis So can you just repeat that again Andrew Baum Citi AnalystThe untapped population Indecipherable Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupSo as we have said in previous calls we do believe that this is a rare disease and that in the US there will be about 100 000 patients in total Globally 500 000 but in the US 100 000 To date we have diagnosed 9 000 patients So that leads us to 9 of the population that we have diagnosed So while this may feel like very significant progress on the time that we have launched and it is I think you can also see that we have a long long way to go to finding all 100 000 of these patients And what I spoke earlier about in terms of the education in terms of how to suspect the disease how you diagnose the disease and then very quickly gaining access so our patients can benefit from treatment of the disease These are all three levers that we are intensely focused on Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGreat Thank you Next question please OperatorYour next question comes from Navin Jacob from UBS Navin Jacob UBS AnalystHello Thanks for taking my questions A couple if I may Just on biosimilars following up with Angela Your comment about strong growth continuing on for the biosimilar So I m wondering if you could give any color around how we should think about the trajectory over the next couple of years Is this a doubling or tripling of that now almost 1 billion business And then also would love to understand how you re thinking about the tail of each of the individual assets Are you seeing should we be thinking of this as a ramp that goes up for a few years and then eventually starts tailing off like other generics Or do you see this stabilizing and having a sustainable tail And then just on Vyndaqel you received a positive CHMP opinion in the EU in December Given that Vyndaqel is already approved in the polyneuropathy indication wondering how we should be thinking about the price with the addition of the cardiomyopathy indication Is there any chance for moving that around And then how we think about the ramp in the EU relative to the US Thank you so much Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupSure So I ll start with the last one first So you re right we just received EU approval for Vyndaqel And as you know there is quite a time lag between approval and then reimbursement in each of the countries So all I can say is right now we are in active negotiations with the countries in terms of determining the price of Vyndaqel as well as its reimbursement You referred to the fact that we already have the 20 milligram of peripheral polyneuropathy in Europe and we recognize that That being said we have first of all ATTR CM is a completely different indication The trials that were conducted as well as the significant mortality benefits that were demonstrated in our clinical trials in ATTR CM are completely different and we have the clinical data to demonstrate the great patient benefits that we have in ATTR CM And so that s the basis of our discussions with each of the countries in Europe for reimbursement Your second question was around Vyndaqel growth and sort of the pace of it I think the way to think about it is the following We have through analogs seen that only 30 to 50 of all rare diseases are ever diagnosed But of course we believe that based on the mortality data that we have and the patient benefit that can be derived that it is critical that we meet that or at beat that And so that s what we are intensely focused on We have 10 of our patients or with 9 in the US are diagnosed today we have a long way to go and that s what we need to do Your last question Navin Jacob UBS AnalystWas the rhythm on the biosimilars We ve had strong growth 22 this year for the year What can we expect going forward Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupThat s right So I think in terms of the biosimilars again this is an area of growth that we can anticipate We have three biosimilars now in oncology plus the two that we have been supportive care And so we look forward to this being a significant growth contributor to oncology portfolio not just from a growth percentage perspective but also from a revenue base perspective Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsRight Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalI just would yeah I just wanted to add that Vyndaqel polyneuropathy has a positive EU recommendation So we expect approval to come soon And you know that links very nicely to really helpful outline you did Angela Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupThanks Mikael Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsGreat And if we can take our last question please operator OperatorYour final question comes from the line of Mani Foroohar from SVB Leerink Mani Foroohar SVB Leerink AnalystHey guys thanks for taking my question A couple of little ones on the Rare Disease side In terms of tafamidis we saw pretty attractive growth OUS including some markets that don t necessarily have the cardiomyopathy indication yet Indecipherable some follow on benefit in polyneuropathy from the increased promotional efforts in cardiomyopathy in Europe and elsewhere As a second question given the expansion of patient opportunity into polyneuropathy in the US how do you think about the opportunity to pursue a supplemental NDA or similar strategy in the US based on the real world evidence guidelines laid out previously by the FDA or would that require a separate study And then finally on the gene therapy side obviously pretty interesting data in hemophilia at ASH moving forward in a couple of Phase 3s now How do you think about that market in a universe where you have multiple therapies within curative intent in gene therapy alongside a number of fairly robust chronic therapies Who are the patients who should receive an irreversible intervention in terms of gene therapy and who do you think that are more appropriate for chronic therapy such as Indecipherable Thank you Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYeah I think I will ask Mikael to start with gene therapy and Indecipherable follow this great assets that we have and how they fit together Mikael Mikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalYeah Thank you very much What I think is unique in our hemophilia portfolio first of course we have a legacy of being one of the pioneers four intravenous delivery of factor VIII and factor IX So we have a platform and experience on the business and R D side And as you so nicely alluded to we also shared with our partner Sangamo some very much best in class data recently on the factor VIII gene therapy Our current portfolio has factor VIII and factor IX gene therapy plus our TFPI antibody that has like Hemlibra an opportunity to provide subcute alternative but actually TFPI can be applicable for both factor VIII and factor IX deficiency So the way we see it develop is that I think physicians will look at gene therapies that have durability and good tolerability and that has really been the hallmark for the strategies when we developed factor VIII and factor IX best in class profile because there are alternatives for these patients So once they see the data for drugs treatments that are approved that have durability and really good outcomes which I think has been so far what we have seen with our gene therapies those will be the one that can be adopted because there are alternatives that have less convenience but will at least until strong data is available be used For patients that are early in the disease diagnosed at earlier age I think this would be a very important treatment as it saves them from the breakthrough bleedings that occur on lifelong treatment with infused factor VIII Phonetic and particularly for patients that are at early age that are very physically active it is important to have a solution for cure So I think this will be a tremendous important patient populations But availability of subcutaneous agents will supplement them and also allow for patients that may have antibodies to gene therapies to use them until a sufficient number of gene therapies available that there is always one for each patient And finally us bringing together I think what s unique with us is the entire portfolio that can address these patients and we look really much forward to the year around 2021 and 22 when we see this portfolio coming into registration phase I think that was the main piece here Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYeah And then Angela maybe on Vyndaqel we have seen some uptick in markets that cardiomyopathy was not approved what s going on there and about supplemental filing on polyneuropathy Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupYeah In terms of polyneuropathy in the US this is something that we re continuing to explore with the FDA So Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerNo this is Speech Overlap made yet but we are in discussions Angela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupThat s right exactly And then in terms of the upticks in polyneuropathy I mean I m not sure that it s a cardiomyopathy effect As you know we are improved It s an approved indication for us ex US So we continue to actively promote it and it s probably as a result of those activities Albert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerYeah We will have as we said approval for that indication and this is one I would think we will see material impact on Vyndaqel in cardiomyopathy in these patients who are not right now we are just promoting of course The indications that we have registered over there so we don t do anything outside that All right I think this concludes more or less our call Just I wanted to make some comments because really I feel that we have at an exciting point in Pfizer s history And if you take a big picture view over the last decade we have changed and refocused our approach to R D we have improved dramatically its productivity and we have developed the best pipeline we ever had and one of the best I believe in the industry If you ve seen 2019 it was a year that we took deliberate and forceful steps to strengthen each one of our businesses and eventually shred Phonetic the current Pfizer into a new smaller high growth profile enterprise that will remain powerhousing marketing but also has been converted to the powerhouse of science Following the expected close of the Upjohn and Mylan transaction later this year of course we will be a very different company And we will focus on continuing to execute our strategy This includes we will continue the commercial momentum and preparing our new product launches You have all asked a lot of questions about those products that keep surprising with their growth profile And also you ve seen that we are taking seriously and we are investing in new launches We are continually advancing our internal pipeline and we ll augment it with mid stage R D programs through targeted bolt on business development opportunities As I referenced before we should continue seeing these type of activities in the first and second half of this year Of course we are working very intensively to set up Upjohn to be in a strong position when it combines with Mylan to become Indecipherable and create a formidable company And of course we will continue leading the conversation in Washington as we work to address the affordability challenge facing patients These are the areas that we are focusing for next year Once again we look forward to sharing more pipeline updates during our Investor Day on March 31 Have a great rest of your day Operator Operator Closing Remarks Duration 88 minutesCall participants Chuck Triano Senior Vice President Investor RelationsAlbert Bourla Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerFrank D Amelio Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Global Supply and Business OperationsAngela Hwang Group President Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals GroupMikael Dolsten Chief Scientific Officer and President Worldwide Research Development and MedicalRandall Stanicky RBC Capital Markets AnalystChris Schott JPMorgan AnalystTerence C Flynn Goldman Sachs AnalystUmer Raffat Evercore ISI AnalystDavid Reed Risinger Morgan Stanley AnalystLouise Alesandra Chen Cantor Fitzgerald AnalystStephen Michael Scala Cowen and Company AnalystGeoff Meacham Bank of America AnalystTim Anderson Wolfe Research AnalystAndrew Baum Citi AnalystNavin Jacob UBS AnalystMani Foroohar SVB Leerink Analyst
More PFE analysis
All earnings call transcripts |
PFE | 3M McCormick and Pfizer | In this episode of MarketFoolery Mac Greer talks with Fool analyst Emily Flippen about some market news McCormick NYSE MKC 3M NYSE MMM and Pfizer NYSE PFE all fell on earnings Emily explains some of the context behind the companies and their drops McCormick s acquisitions and growth 3M s one time fees Pfizer s new plan and more and how attractive they look going forward Also Emily shares her take on the U S China trade war phase one deal and what investors might expect in the next few quarters some things to keep in mind regarding the coronavirus and its potential impact on the Chinese economy and more
To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool s free podcasts check out our podcast center To get started investing check out our quick start guide to investing in stocks A full transcript follows the video
This video was recorded on Jan 28 2020
Mac Greer It s Tuesday January 28th Welcome to MarketFoolery I m Mac Greer and I am joined in studio by Motley Fool analyst Emily Flippen Emily how are you doing today
Emily Flippen I m all right How about yourself
Greer I m doing good I m doing good Now in a minute as our resident expert as a student of China do you like when I always just kind of build your credentials up
Flippen laughs I love it
Greer Well I m going to have to ask you about the coronavirus
Flippen Of course
Greer Chris and Jason talked about it on yesterday s MarketFoolery and I certainly want to talk to you about it in a few minutes But I want to kick things off with some earnings stories And let s begin with McCormick the spice maker And really a dang good stock over the last few years but not so much today Shares slipping a bit after McCormick reported lower than expected earnings What is going on here
Flippen Well not only did McCormick miss on their revenue and earnings but they gave weak guidance for 2020 Net income was actually down 0 01 year over year on flat revenue So I think all in all I mean McCormick s never been a high flying stock but it was a worse quarter than what was expected But you need to put it in context For instance McCormick prior to this earnings was up 40 over the past year alone And that is foiled against the market s 25 but still that s 15 20 over the market which is extremely impressive for a company that has only grown revenue in the low single digits for a long time now
Greer That s a lot of Old Bay
Flippen It s a lot of Old Bay And it might not be a high flying company but in constant currency terms the company actually grew sales 3 So there were some headwinds in there that were a little bit out of their control I think all in all McCormick ultimately what you re seeing is a strong stable dividend paying company that has just been on a tear and needs a little bit of a pullback if you ask me
Greer And speaking of being on a tear I think a lot of us when we think McCormick we think spices But in recent years they ve gone on a bit of a buying spree where they bought food companies and food brands like Frank s Red Hot French s When I think mustard I think French s So it s not just a spice maker anymore
Flippen Yeah look I have a bottle of Frank s Red Hot in my fridge constantly I put that stuff on everything to stick with their tag line there So McCormick is smart because they re always looking forward and thinking OK well if we see any softness in the spice market last year there was some softness on the food service side of their spice division So yeah when they see opportunities to acquire different brands then they do that And it s smart because it diversifies their revenue stream a little bit And Frank s Red Hot is great
Greer Do you have a favorite spice
Flippen I like McCormick s premixed spices I know it s a cop out
Greer In the little paper bags
Flippen In the little paper bags I know I know When I go home I already have all those spices in my cabinet somewhere But there s something so nice about just getting a little bag putting it on the chicken putting it on whatever and then baking it and making it all easy enough
Greer I think there s no crime in that I think you should just own it You know what I love And I m such a late adopter I feel like I came across this maybe 10 15 years ago but I m such a huge fan of sea salt And I know salt I know the world
Flippen What s the difference
Greer I don t know it just feels kind of chunkier I don t know it feels better Now I know the tide has been turning against salt for a while And I know that too much salt not a great thing So hold your emails But love me some sea salt So back to the stock The stock has more than doubled over the last five years Are you still bullish on McCormick going forward
Flippen I am Their cash flow from operations were up 15 year over year And in November they authorized their 34th consecutive quarter of dividend increases I think today s reaction might be a little bit of a needed pullback for the stock itself but in terms of it as an investment especially if you re looking for a dividend it s a low dividend at about a 1 5 yield but it s a good stable player that generates a lot of cash flow
Greer And let s move on to 3M Shares of 3M down around 4 on earnings 3M also announcing that it is laying off 1 500 employees That works out to around 1 5 of its workforce Emily what do you think
Flippen 3M had an interesting quarter Their sales slightly missed Their earnings missed big They posted a gap EPS of 1 66 versus 2 10 expected So a big miss there But there was a 0 49 headwind associated with as you mentioned the restructuring charges with that layoff of 1 500 people a huge number of people as well as litigation costs that don t expect to reoccur So on the bright side it seems like they have some room for operational improvements throughout 2020 In fact in 2020 they guided that the bottom line should rise more in the range of 2 to 7 thanks to those job cuts It s never really a good thing you want to see with a company that needs to raise that income by laying off a huge number of people like this But at the same time they really do need to return to growth in 2020 Their sales were down 2 year over year
Greer And let s talk about another potential catalyst Because back in October of 2018 3M first warned that trade tensions with China would be a problem Now last week we talked about phase one of the trade deal with China We ve got that now locked in So could that be a catalyst I mean it seems like things are getting better and that can only help 3M right
Flippen Every single time I think things are getting better the trade war I need to knock on wood because it seems like you take a step forward then two steps back I really think it s too early to say whether or not we re going to see any further improvements in the trade war than the phase one deal The phase one deal was the low hanging fruit There s a lot of very nitty gritty details there that need to be worked out And unfortunately the safety and industrial segment for 3M is their largest revenue segment and that s the most affected by the trade war
Greer Exit question 10 years from now will there still be Post it Notes
Flippen 100 just because David Gardner will still be in the world and he ll still be buying those Post it Notes
Greer I love it you re bullish on Post it Notes
Flippen I m bullish on Post it Notes
Greer I love Post it Notes but I m not sure with millennials I mean you as a millennial I feel like it s all gone digital So I m not sure Five years from now maybe so 10 years from now I think there s going to start to be a backlash against Post it Notes because of the waste And I love Post it Notes
Flippen I also love Post it Notes If you go into my workspace at my home I have Post it Notes all over the place I will admit it s maybe not the most environmentally friendly thing I do
Greer Well let s move on to Pfizer Shares of Pfizer falling on earnings down around 4 Emily what is going on with Pfizer
Flippen Ultimately the big story with Pfizer is that they were not helped by the loss of patent exclusivity for Lyrica That s Pfizer s drug used to treat pain from fibromyalgia and other nervous system diseases That s a mouthful It s essentially to say that yeah Lyrica lost two thirds of its revenue over the past year because of the loss of this patent which has really impacted Pfizer s bottom line They missed on earnings And that was actually a 13 decrease year over year in earnings But Pfizer s looking up for 2020 They re actually spinning off one of their divisions Upjohn selling it to Mylan and they re forming what they call a new Pfizer which is a new and improved smaller lean innovative machine
Greer A new Pfizer I hope that works out better than the whole New Coke thing
Flippen I hope so too
Greer Back to back to the loss of exclusivity When you re looking at a drug maker like Pfizer it s really all about the pipeline right for investors and their ability to replenish that pipeline as they lose exclusivity
Flippen Exactly And you have to recognize that Pfizer and other companies like this are always going to be very lumpy They tend to have really great quarters and then really bad quarters It depends a lot on that patent process I presume that new Pfizer s focus will be on biopharma They have a lot of great products coming out in that division as well as bringing their existing products into emerging markets But the CEO Albert Borella said that quote The company will be a smaller science based company with a singular focus on innovation So hopefully moving forward that means that they re focusing on their core products that they see their ability to scale
Greer And as we wrap up Emily as I mentioned I want to ask you about the coronavirus Now Chris and Jason talked about it on yesterday s show We re seeing a lot of stocks getting hurt Travel stocks especially and gaming stocks like Wynn really falling because of the coronavirus story Now Chris talked about how it s an opportunity to see how companies communicate and to see how transparent and how forthcoming some of these companies are We ve seen Starbucks and Disney both make statements and close to see how companies communicate As you watch this coronavirus story unfold what are you watching What s your big question
Flippen I think Chris hit the nail on the head with watching how these companies communicate I will just add a grain of salt there which is to say what they re operating off of is limited information And they re usually getting that information from the horse s mouth itself which is the Chinese government It s not the most reliable source of information So even though you can have companies that are trying their best to be as transparent as possible with what they know about the impact of this disease if anybody is being over communicative it s probably going to give investors a feeling of false hope right Nobody really knows where this is going to develop Nobody can really tell the impact of it
What I ll be watching is seeing how this affects the general Chinese economy over the next quarter Chinese stocks have been beaten down because of the trade war issues associated with our different governments And this definitely does not help what I had initially hoped in 2020 would be a secular rotation back into Chinese companies So we need to make sure that this doesn t impact the Chinese economy too much or these Chinese companies can continue to stay hit down
Greer And as we wrap up the desert island question You re on a desert island for the next five years and for some reason well you re going to buy a stock You have to buy one of these three stocks McCormick 3M or Pfizer
Flippen That s such an easy question to me For me that s McCormick 100
Greer Wow didn t even hesitate
Flippen I really don t need to When I look off into the future five 10 years from now I see McCormick still being around They re really the leader in their space I think they re well managed They re not the biggest dividend player all of these companies are dividend payers by the way but they do pay a steady dividend They have strong cash flows Look any company that acquires Frank s Red Hot is good in my book
Greer I like that And they have the premade spice packs You don t have to do anything You just tear the thing up Yeah I love that too
Well as always people on the show may have interest in the stocks they talk about and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against so don t buy or sell stocks based solely What you hear Emily Flippen thanks for joining me
Flippen Thanks for having me
Greer That s it for this edition of MarketFoolery This show is mixed by Dan Boyd I m Mac Greer Thanks for listening and we will see you tomorrow |
PFE | Pfizer shares still soft after Q4 miss | Pfizer PFE 1 2 remains in the red after yesterday s Q4 report that came in below expectations Share have sold off 6 since Sell siders weigh in
Cantor s Louis Chen Overweight 53 Earnings miss and concerns about the company s growth prospects are overdone Confident that it will achieve its five year CAGR of 6 in revenue Solid execution and innovation will drive sales growth
Goldman s Terence Flynn Weakness in shares probably driven by headwinds to key franchises like Ibrance extension of late stage data readout on Ibrance in an adjuvant setting Key data readouts this year are a key to building investor confidence that its R D productivity can deliver new drugs to replace those that will lose patent protection in 2026 and beyond
JPMorgan s Chris Schott Neutral 37 6 CAGR in revenue target looks achievable Not enough in the company s update to support a further upside in valuation however |
WFC | Wells Fargo reports better than expected Q1 earnings | Investing com Wells Fargo reported better than expected first quarter earnings on Thursday as revenues increased by more than 4 from the same period in 2015
Specifically the preferred bank of investor Warren Buffet reported a diluted earnings per share EPS of 0 99
Revenue rose 4 3 to 22 19 billion
Analysts had expected an EPS of 0 97 on revenue of 21 70 billion
After the report shares in Wells Fargo Company NYSE WFC traded up 0 49 to 49 27 in the pre market |
WFC | Fed to raise rates twice this year but conviction fading Reuters poll | By Anu Bararia Reuters The U S Federal Reserve will raise interest rates twice this year most likely in June but the probability has faded on signs of a weak start to the year inflation that is still tame and a brittle global backdrop a Reuters poll showed The Fed is likely to take a pass at its policy meeting later in April and instead will opt to raise the federal funds rate by 25 basis points in June to 0 50 0 75 percent in what will be the second in its first series of rate rises in nearly a decade The central bank is still expected to follow up with another rate rise before year end taking the federal funds rate to 0 75 1 0 percent But confidence among economists for two rate hikes this year as the Fed has suggested it will do is fading A growing minority of economists in the regular monthly survey about a quarter predict just one rate hike this year up from 15 percent in a poll taken just one month ago Fed Chair Janet Yellen has made it clear she is in no hurry to raise which has halted a dollar rally in its tracks and sent it sliding against a basket of currencies such as the euro and the Japanese yen Two thirds of economists 54 of 81 forecast a rate hike by end June with respondents providing a median 55 percent probability of that happening down from 60 percent in March It is certainly an uphill climb to get to a June rate hike said Sam Bullard senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC A lot of things do have to go right between now and then Fed funds futures as well as the outlook for U S 10 year Treasury yields also show little conviction in markets about a series of Fed hikes this year US INT One thing that is going right for the Fed is the U S job market The economy has created 200 000 or more jobs in all but three of the past 12 months including 215 000 in March The labor market is operating fairly normally and shows every indication that it will continue to do so with steadily rising payrolls and reductions in slack said Terry Sheehan senior analyst at Stone McCarthy Research Associates adding this was a good reason for the Fed to tighten more Indeed the number of people seeking unemployment benefits in the U S unexpectedly fell last week matching the level in early March which was the lowest since 1973 What hasn t yet happened is a significant pickup in wages and consumer inflation In March inflation cooled to 0 9 percent compared to a year ago from 1 0 percent in February Core PCE price inflation the Fed s preferred inflation gauge is not forecast to rise to near 2 percent until the end of next year reuters realtime verb Open url cpurl apps cp Apps econ polls RIC USPCEAP TROUBLE AGAIN IN Q1 While concerns abound about the world backdrop particularly China forecasters gave just a 15 percent median probability of a U S recession unchanged from last month The trouble is growth has been uneven particularly at the start of each year This year is no exception The U S economy almost stalled in January March according to the latest real time forecast from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economists in the Reuters poll were more optimistic expecting 1 2 percent annualized growth But that is down sharply from the 2 0 percent forecast just a few months ago an unusually large change in such a short period of time An analysis of the past five years of Reuters poll data on U S Q1 GDP shows even that view is probably too optimistic Growth in the first quarter has routinely fallen short of expectations several times because of heavy snowfall and this year due to a bigger than expected run down in inventories Economists have been consistently downgrading their growth forecasts for 2016 since last year They expect the U S economy to expand 2 0 percent this year down from 2 1 percent in last month s survey The International Monetary Fund this week cut its U S growth forecasts once again and now expect an expansion of 2 4 percent this year from 2 6 percent predicted earlier
We see the economy shifting down in the second half the year softening consumer spending and lack of wage growth are key hurdles for the Fed to hike rates said Thomas Costerg senior economist at Standard Chartered LON STAN Bank who is expecting one rate cut by the end of the year Polling by Sarmista Sen and Kailash Bathija Editing by Ross Finley and Raissa Kasolowsky |
WFC | U S Stocks End Range Bound Session Mixed | U S Stocks End Range Bound Session MixedStocks were set to close near even Monday after a range bound session as traders contrasted a positive result from Sunday s elections in Greece against a deteriorating economic picture in Spain Over the weekend the pro bailout New Democracy party edged the leftist Syriza party for a slim lead New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras now faces the task of forming a governing coalition If a coalition can be formed the new government is expected to try to seek new terms of the bailout agreed to in March although German Chancellor Angela Merkel has tried to douse those hopes saying Greece should adhere to the March agreement The important thing is that the new government sticks with the commitments that have been made according to a Reuters report of Merkel s comments at the Mexican resort of Los Cabos before this week s Group of 20 summit There can be no loosening on the reform steps Meanwhile skyrocketing yields on 10 year bonds in Spain injected fresh concern into the euro zone s economic health Yields at one point jumped to 7 22 a euro area record high Closer to home the National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo Housing Market index rose one point from a revised May reading to 29 this month also topping expectations of experts in a Bloomberg poll anticipating little change from last month The May number originally was reported as 29 The index however was still below 50 meaning more builders view market conditions as poor rather than favorable It has not been above 50 since April 2006 Investors anxiously await the Federal Open Market Committee s two day meeting which will kick off tomorrow Wall Street is focused on whether the Fed will extend Operation Twist its program of selling short term securities while buying longer dated ones In commodities gold futures inched lower with gold for August delivery slipping 1 10 or 0 1 to settle at 1 627 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange The metal traded as low as 1 606 90 in the session Oil futures also ended modestly lower oil for July delivery closed down 0 9 at 83 27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Here s where the market stood at end of day Dow Jones Industrial Average down 25 35 0 20 to 12 741 82S P 500 up 1 94 0 14 to 1 344 78Nasdaq Composite Index up 22 53 0 78 to 2 895 33GLOBAL SENTIMENTNikkei 225 Index up 1 77 Hang Seng Index up 1 01 Shanghai China Composite Index up 0 40 FTSE 100 Index up 0 02 UPSIDE MOVERS XG Agrees to be acquired by Yamana Gold ELT Confirms possible acquisition by Melrose PLC IDCC News of Patent Sale to Intel LAZ Train Fund Management Discloses StakeDOWNSIDE MOVERS BODY Issues weaker than expected outlook DSW Reports Q2 EPS below estimates Reaffirms FY12 EPS in line INFI Terminates Phase II trials of blood cancer drug candidate Saridegib |
CMCSA | Comcast Reports Rise In Q1 Revenue Profit | By Reuters Comcast Corporation NASDAQ CMCSA posted higher first quarter revenue and net income on Tuesday as the largest U S cable operator gained video subscribers for the second quarter in a row
Comcast reported net income of 1 87 billion or 71 cents per share compared with 1 44 billion or 54 cents a share a year earlier
Revenue rose 14 percent to 17 41 billion from 15 31 billion Analysts on average expecting 17 04 billion |
CMCSA | TWC Earnings Preview Q1 Profits Seen Rising With Aggressive Promotions | By Time Warner Cable Inc NYSE TWC the country s No 2 cable provider is expected to report higher first quarter earnings on slightly higher revenue Thursday following months of aggressive promotional offers meant to boost its shrinking subscriber base and improve its per subscriber revenue
The New York based cable and Internet provider is expected to show net income of 478 million for the period ended March 31 compared to 423 million for the same period last year Earnings per share are forecast to rise to 1 68 per share compared to 1 41 per share a year earlier
Time Warner Cable s revenue is expected to increase 3 percent to 5 64 billion up from 5 48 billion a year earlier according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters Time Warner Cable will report financial results on Thursday before the market opens A conference call is scheduled for 8 30 a m ET
The outlook is rosy given the company s tumultuous 2013 a year marred by subscription losses and a high profile battle over retransmission fees with CBS Corporation NYSE CBS which resulted in a month long blackout of the network According to Bloomberg Time Warner Cable lost 215 000 customers in the three month period ended December 31
But the company s narrative changed dramatically in February when Time Warner Cable announced that it plans to merge with Comcast Corporation NASDAQ CMCSA the country s largest pay TV provider in an all stock deal valued at 45 2 billion The deal is being described by analysts as a friendly takeover of Time Warner Cable by the larger Comcast The combined company will gain control of about one third of the entire U S pay TV market
Initially the news sparked investor concern about regulatory hurdles and a possible public backlash particularly considering Comcast s controversial 2011 merger with NBCUniversal which faced fierce opposition from consumer groups and some federal regulators Although Time Warner Cable shares jumped 6 8 percent on news of its pending merger shares fell short of the 158 82 per share value that Comcast had offered As Reuters reported that shortfall could indicate investors worries about regulatory clearance At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in April which marked the beginning of the regulatory process opponents came out swinging with many expressing concern that the merged entity would become an effective cable industry monopsony a buyer with enough power to push down the price it pays for programming thereby squelching emerging content creators like Netflix Inc NASDAQ NFLX
Analysts are somewhat more optimistic Vikash Harlalka an analyst with International Strategy Investment Group wrote in an April 15 research note that if you re planning on buying TWC shares now is the time The deal spread with Comcast remains tight suggesting the market is confident in the merger getting approved Harlalka wrote We prefer playing the transaction by buying TWC as you get the assets at a 4 percent discount
Amy Yong an analyst with Macquarie Capital Inc wrote in a March 4 research note that regulatory scrutiny could delay the merger until early 2015 In the meantime she wrote Time Warner Cable is doing the right things by focusing on improved products like TWC Maxx a service to increase bandwidth and a new TWC app for the Roku streaming player Wong expects Time Warner Cable s average revenue per user ARPU is expected to rise 3 6 percent in the first quarter In the interim it s business as usual Wong wrote Time Warner management has a path to revitalize the business with better service next gen products like Roku and Samsung Smart TVs and a market by market approach in its rollout of TWC Maxx
The wait and see approach appears to be the consensus Out of 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters 14 rated Time Warner Cable stock Hold Time Warner Cable shares rose 1 83 percent Tuesday to 183 43
Got a news tip Email me Follow me on Twitter christopherzara |
CMCSA | Comcast Offers To Shed Customers For Time Warner Deal | By Reuters Comcast Corp NASDAQ CMCSA offered to sell 1 4 million pay TV subscribers to Charter Communications Inc for 7 3 billion as part of a wider transaction aimed at winning regulatory approval for its proposed 45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable
Comcast also said it would divest another 2 5 million subscribers into a new publicly traded company dubbed SpinCo for now to be one third owned by Charter and two thirds owned by Comcastshareholders
The deal will make Charter whose own bid for Time Warner Cable Inc NYSE TWC was thwarted by Comcast s higher offer the second biggest U S pay TV company with 5 7 million customers overtaking Cox Communications Inc
Comcast will have less than 30 percent of the U S residential cable or satellite TV market after the deal the company said in a statement
SpinCo would have an estimated enterprise value of 14 3 billion and an equity value of 5 8 billion Charter and Comcast said in an investor presentation
The agreement is contingent on Comcast s Time Warner Cable deal being approved by the Justice Department and the U S Federal Communications Commission a process that could take many months
Comcast wanted to do this deal now with Charter so it could get in front of regulators at the Justice Department and the FCC at the same time as the Time Warner Cable deal a source familiar with the matter said
The source said there was a standstill agreement with Charter that stipulates that it cannot gain full control of SpinCo for four years
Comcast will have no ownership in SpinCo if the divestment plan goes ahead The companies said the divestments would deliver about 19 5 billion in value to Comcast shareholders
Time Warner Cable had 11 2 million residential video subscribers as of March 31 while Comcast had 22 6 million
For Charter this deal is a transformative event and sets them up over time to consolidate the balance of the rest of the cable industry Pivotal Research Group analyst Jeff Wlodarczak told Reuters adding that the deal was good for both parties
Charter s deal with Comcast marks an acceleration of John Malone s effective return to cable through his investment vehicle Liberty Media Corp which owns about 27 percent of Charter Wlodarczak said
In addition to the divestments Charter and Comcast will swap about 1 6 million customers
Comcast will get parts of Los Angeles New York state western Massachusetts North and South Carolina and parts of Texas and Georgia Charter will get Detroit and Minneapolis St Paul in Minnesota the companies said in the presentation
Charter said it expected to fund the purchase of 1 4 million customers through debt
Charter shares were up 1 5 percent at 132 in premarket trading on Monday Comcast shares were untraded after closing at 50 97 on Nasdaq on Friday Time Warner Cable shares were untraded after closing at 139 41 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday |
PFE | Is A Disappointment In Store For Glaxo s GSK Q4 Earnings | GlaxoSmithKline plc NYSE GSK is scheduled to report fourth quarter 2019 results on Feb 5 before market open In the last reported quarter the company delivered a positive surprise of 14 46 Shares of Glaxo have outperformed the in the past year The stock has returned 19 6 compared with the industry s increase of 10 2 Glaxo s earnings performance has been impressive so far The company s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters by 17 23 on average Factors to ConsiderStrong demand for its shingles vaccine Shingrix and respiratory drugs is likely to have driven sales of Glaxo s Pharmaceuticals segment However rising competition in the HIV segment especially for three drug regimens might have hurt sales The growth trend in sales of the Respiratory category is likely to have continued in the fourth quarter on the back of strong demand for Trelegy Ellipta and Nucala Label expansion of Nucala to include children aged six years or older with severe eosinophilic asthma in September might have boosted the drug s sales in the quarter However older respiratory drugs Advair and Relvar Breo Ellipta facing competitive and pricing pressure are likely to have unfavorably impacted Glaxo s sales in the soon to be reported quarter The Vaccines segment is likely to have benefited from the sustained uptake of Shingrix Moreover sales of meningitis vaccine Bexsero acquired from Novartis AG NYSE NVS have demonstrated growth in the previous three quarters The trend is likely to have continued in the fourth quarter However Menveo sales slightly declined in the prior quarter Demand for these vaccines fluctuates every season and therefore sales may vary Sales growth of Glaxo s Benlysta were at record levels in the third quarter During the fourth quarter the drug s label was expanded to include children aged five years or older with lupus in Europe which may have boosted sales in the quarter Oncology sales solely from Zejula are also likely to have witnessed growth Meanwhile the competitive environment and the shift in the portfolio toward two drug regimens have likely hurt sales of three drug regimens Tivicay and Triumeq and older HIV drugs However the strong growth trend witnessed in two drug regimens Juluca and Dovato might have helped the company to partially offset some of the losses in sales of three drug regimens Glaxo formed a joint venture with Pfizer NYSE PFE in August to create the world s largest consumer healthcare business While Glaxo owns a controlling stake of 68 in the JV Pfizer owns 32 In the Consumer Healthcare segment sales are likely to have been driven by Oral health products and Pfizer s legacy products Earnings WhispersOur proven model does not conclusively show that Glaxo will beat on earnings this quarter That is because a stock needs to have both a positive and a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold to be able to beat estimates Unfortunately that is not the case here as you will see below Earnings ESP Earnings ESP which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate 69 cents and the Zacks Consensus Estimate 70 cents stands at 1 55 You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they re reported with our Zacks Rank Glaxo currently has a Zacks Rank 3 GlaxoSmithKline plc Price and Consensus
A Stock to ConsiderHere is a large drug biotech stock you may want to consider as our model shows that it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this season Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ REGN has an Earnings ESP of 5 39 and a Zacks Rank 3 The company is scheduled to release fourth quarter results on Feb 6 You can see Free Zacks Single Best Stock Set to DoubleToday you are invited to download our latest Special Report that reveals 5 stocks with the most potential to gain 100 or more in 2020 From those 5 Zacks Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand picks one to have the most explosive upside of all This pioneering tech ticker had soared to all time highs and then subsided to a price that is irresistible Now a pending acquisition could super charge the company s drive past competitors in the development of true Artificial Intelligence The earlier you get in to this stock the greater your potential gain |
PFE | Pfizer posts 9 fall in fourth quarter revenue | Pfizer on Tuesday reported lower than expected quarterly profit and a decline in revenue The company s total revenue fell 9 to 12 69 billion in the fourth quarter with Lyrica sales sinking 68 to 433 million due to competition from generic drugs Revenue was also lower in the absence of any sales from the separated consumer health business |
PFE | Pfizer Stock Falls 3 | Investing com Pfizer NYSE PFE Stock fell by 3 06 to trade at 38 92 by 09 36 14 36 GMT on Tuesday on the NYSE exchange
The volume of Pfizer shares traded since the start of the session was 5 19M Pfizer has traded in a range of 38 87 to 39 44 on the day
The stock has traded at 40 9700 at its highest and 38 9200 at its lowest during the past seven days |
PFE | How Far Will Pfizer Stock Slump | When Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE released its fourth quarter earnings report before the opening bell Tuesday the pharmaceutical giant said that it had 0 55 in earnings per share EPS and 12 7 billion in revenue That compared with consensus estimates of 0 57 in EPS and 12 61 billion in revenue as well as the 0 64 per share and 13 98 billion posted in the same period of last year In terms of the breakdown Biopharma revenues totaled 10 5 billion up 9 operationally primarily driven by Eliquis Vyndaqel Vyndamax Ibrance Inlyta and Prevenar Upjohn revenues were down 32 on an operational basis to 2 2 billion This move was primarily driven by the expected significant volume declines for Lyrica in the United States due to multisource generic competition that began in July 2019 Excluding the unfavorable impact of Lyrica in the United States and other recent product losses of exclusivity fourth quarter 2019 revenues for Upjohn declined 6 operationally div connatix margin bottom 1 5em div connatix img margin unset Looking ahead to the 2020 fiscal full year the company expects to see EPS in the range of 2 82 to 2 92 and revenue between 48 5 billion and 50 5 billion The consensus estimates call for 2 90 in EPS and 49 52 billion in revenue for the full year Dr Albert Bourla Pfizer s board chair and chief executive commented 2019 was a busy year highlighted by solid financial performance shareholder friendly capital allocation the strengthening of our pipeline as well as the formation of the Consumer Healthcare JV with GSK We also announced a definitive agreement to combine Upjohn and Mylan to create a new global pharmaceutical company Viatris marking an important milestone in Pfizer s evolution toward becoming a more focused global leader in innovative medicines Short sellers seemed to be taking a wait and see approach to Pfizer in the most recently reported period but it remains one of the most shorted Dow Jones industrials Shares of Pfizer were traded down over 3 on Tuesday at 38 76 in a 52 week range of 33 97 to 44 56 The consensus price target is 42 33
By Chris Lange |
PFE | The 3 Most Important Things to Know About Pfizer s Q4 Earnings Results | Everyone who follows Pfizer NYSE PFE expected that 2019 would be a challenging year for the big drugmaker And it was The company s blockbuster nerve pain drug Lyrica faced generic competition with sales quickly plummeting Pfizer s share price fell 10 last year while the S P 500 index soared 29
Pfizer announced its fourth quarter results before the market opened on Tuesday Here are the three most important things to know about the company s Q4 update
1 Overall revenue declined but there are some bright spots
Pfizer s revenue in the fourth quarter fell by 9 year over year to 12 7 billion There was one major culprit behind the decline Sales for Lyrica plunged 67 from 1 32 billion in the prior year period to 433 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 Pfizer also reported sales declines for several other drugs most notably Enbrel which saw sales fall 21 year over year to 414 million
But there were some bright spots with Pfizer s Q4 revenue It topped the consensus analysts estimate of 12 6 billion And while overall revenue fell sales for Pfizer s biopharma segment increased by 7 on a reported basis and 9 operationally to over 10 5 billion
Sales for the company s top selling product pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13 rose 4 year over year to 1 58 billion The most impressive growth though came from rare disease drug Vyndaqel with sales skyrocketing from 39 million in the prior year period to 213 million in Q4 Pfizer s top blockbusters also delivered strong growth Sales for blood thinner Eliquis soared 21 to nearly 1 1 billion with sales for breast cancer drug Ibrance jumping 13 to 1 28 billion
2 Earnings were a little below expectations
With Pfizer s revenue sliding it came as no surprise that earnings would fall as well Pfizer reported a net loss of 337 million or 0 06 per share based on generally accepted accounting principles GAAP The company posted a GAAP net loss of 394 million or 0 07 per share in the prior year period
Pfizer announced adjusted income of 3 1 billion or 0 55 per share This was well below the adjusted income of 3 75 billion or 0 63 per share posted in the same period in 2018
CFO Frank D Amelio said that full year results for 2019 met or exceeded all components of our financial guidance He was right However the company didn t quite meet Wall Street s expectations of adjusted earnings per share of 0 57
3 Complicated guidance
Pfizer provided three different outlooks for full year 2020 Why such complicated guidance The company plans to spin off its Upjohn unit and merge it with Mylan Because of this pending transaction Pfizer gave full year 2020 guidance for the full company as it stands now for the new Pfizer that will remain after the deal is finalized and for Upjohn by itself
For the full company Pfizer projects full year 2020 revenue will be between 48 5 billion and 50 5 billion with adjusted diluted EPS of 2 82 to 2 92 This guidance reflects low single digit percentage declines on both the top and bottom lines
The picture looks much better for the new Pfizer that will emerge after Upjohn is spun off It expects full year revenue between 40 7 billion and 42 3 billion for the new company reflecting 8 year over year operational growth at the midpoint of the range Adjusted diluted EPS is projected to come in between 2 25 and 2 35
Pfizer expects that full year 2020 revenue for Upjohn will be between 8 billion and 8 5 billion The midpoint of this range reflects a 23 year over year operational decline Pfizer didn t provide adjusted EPS guidance for Upjohn but the company projects that Upjohn s adjusted EBITDA for full year 2020 will fall between 3 8 billion and 4 2 billion
Looking ahead
As is the case with any pharmaceutical stock Pfizer s future rests on its pipeline The company has several important milestones on the way this year for investors to watch
CEO Albert Bourla said that the company expects to report pivotal top line results in the first half of 2020 for abrocitinib in treating atopic dermatitis for three late stage studies of 20 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine PF 06482077 and for Xeljanz in treating ankylosing spondylitis Even more late stage results should be on the way in the second half of the year as well as results from earlier stage clinical studies throughout 2020
Bourla also said 2020 is expected to be an exciting year for Pfizer with the close of the Upjohn Mylan transaction anticipated by midyear leaving New Pfizer positioned to deliver revenue and adjusted diluted EPS growth that is expected to be among the industry leaders New Pfizer will be a smaller science based company with a singular focus on innovation while also continuing to allocate significant capital directly to shareholders primarily through dividends
Current shareholders will probably like the prospects of stronger revenue and earnings growth But they ll especially like that the company intends to keep the solid dividends flowing |
PFE | Pfizer launches three biosimilars priced for market penetration | Pfizer PFE 3 7 is launching three biosimilars in the U S priced aggressively to capture market share
Zirabev bevacizumab bvzr a biosimilar to Roche s OTCQX RHHBY 0 7 Avastin was launched on December 31 2019 at a wholesale acquisition cost WAC of 61 34 per 10 mg a 23 discount compared to the WAC of the branded product
Ruxience rituximab pvvr a biosimilar to Roche s Rituxan was launched today at a WAC of 71 68 per 10 mg a 24 discount versus the branded version
Trazimera trastuzumab qyyp a biosimilar to Roche s Herceptin will be available on February 15 at a WAC of 80 74 per 10 mg a 22 discount versus the branded product
The WAC of each product does not include discounts to payers providers distributors and other purchasing organizations
Shares are down on the company s Q4 miss |
WFC | Millennials face debt and denial | By Bobbi Rebell NEW YORK Reuters Debt may be a drag for millennials but apparently not as much as cooking their own dinner A survey from Citizens Bank found that fewer than half 47 percent of millennials those in the 18 35 age group who are college graduates would be willing to limit their online food delivery in return for reducing their student loans Other priorities Concerts sporting events and lattes as well as travel and vacations The prospect of limiting any of these luxuries got the no thanks from the majority of millennials who were asked if they would cut back to lower their student loans The same holds true for cutting Internet service Despite being so unwilling to give up life s little pleasures more than half 57 percent said they regret taking out as many student loans as they did and about a third said they would not have even gone to college if they knew how much it was going to cost them That is a big conflict says Brendan Coughlin president of consumer lending at Citizens Bank They are very committed to living their life the way they want to live their life and as frustrated as they are by student loans they are not willing to make those lifestyle tradeoffs he said Part of the problem may be one of denial and math The same survey found that nearly half of millennials 45 percent with student loans do not even know how much of their annual salary they spend on them It is 18 percent on average for the record On the upside the vast majority do at least know what they owe over 40 000 for most But more than a third 37 percent are clueless on the interest rate they pay Some suggestions for getting that number down KNOW WHAT YOU OWE The National Student Loan Data System tracks federal loans or 1 800 4 FED AID For private student loans borrowers should check out their annual credit reports REFINANCE Three quarters of millennial graduates told Citizens Bank that refinancing is not part of their plan to pay off their student loans Millennials who have graduated and have jobs often qualify for better rates than they did when they had no income at the start of school In addition to Citizens Bank SoFi CommonBond Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Earnest and other institutions offer refinancing programs There is also an opportunity for students to move from variable rate loans to fixed rate ones as a hedge against rising interest rates At Citizens a regular undergraduate loan ranges from 5 25 percent to 11 75 percent Refinancing loans start as low as 4 74 percent Variable rates range from 2 44 percent to 9 44 percent On average a customer will save 1 5 percent APR when refinancing or 147 a month according to Citizens GET HELP AT WORK A number of companies including Fidelity and PwC are offering help to pay down student debt This is becoming a more mainstream perk and is worth looking into with your current employer and keeping in mind if you are looking for a job While only about 3 percent of employers are offering this perk according to the Society for Human Resource Management it is gaining steam as companies work to attract and retain millennial workers SEEK FORGIVENESS Some professions such as public service jobs offer student loan forgiveness They include public defenders law enforcement officers doctors nurses and some teachers For example teachers who work in low income school districts and teach certain needed subjects may qualify for even full cancellation of some types of loans Volunteering can also pay off Many organizations like the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps offer eligibility for student loan payments through Public Service Loan Forgiveness PSLF or other options
Fixes typo in word move paragraph 13 no other changes to text |
WFC | U S agency protecting borrowers lacks data on mortgage servicers GAO | WASHINGTON Reuters The number of nonbank firms that service mortgages in the United States is growing but the federal agency charged with protecting borrowers has no single list of the companies even though they can pose major risks to consumers according to a report released on Monday In its report the Government Accountability Office found the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which was created in response to the housing and financial crisis did not have comprehensive data on the identity and number of nonbank mortgage servicers in the market The GAO is an independent watchdog that regularly audits federal programs and agencies While there are benefits to having nonbanks such as Quicken Loans service mortgages there are also risks that often fall between the regulatory cracks GAO found Issues related to aggressive growth and insufficient infrastructure have resulted in harm to consumers have exposed counterparties to operational and reputational risks and complicated servicing transfers between institutions GAO found During some transfers of mortgages firms have lost documents or not credited borrowers payments on loans GAO found Some borrowers lost contact with their servicers and their new servicers did not always receive or adhere to borrowers existing loss mitigation agreements with the previous servicer GAO found In some cases these types of transfer errors may have resulted in some borrowers improperly losing their homes to foreclosure The GAO conducted the review at the request of two Democrats who have been vocal about tightening Wall Street regulation after the financial crisis Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts Both responded to the findings by calling for CFPB to collect data and strengthen oversight of servicers Collecting information on and regulating nonbank mortgage services to protect consumers is well within CFPB s statutory authority and core mission they wrote to the bureau s head Richard Cordray We hope that you take actions to do so as rapidly as possible The GAO found nonbank servicers still did not command as great a market share as banks but that their influence was growing In the second quarter of 2015 Wells Fargo NYSE WFC the largest U S mortgage servicer commanded 17 1 percent of the market compared with 18 percent in the first quarter of 2012 the report said Nationstar Mortgage LLC which was not listed as a top 10 servicer in 2012 ranked fourth in 2015 Its 4 1 percent market share was greater than that of Citi or PNC Mortgage |
WFC | Closing Update U S Stocks End Volatile Session In The Red Over Greece s Political Meltdown | After Hours Closing Update U S Stocks End Volatile Session in the Red Over Greece s Political Meltdown4 10 PM May 15 2012 U S stocks wavered between gains and losses Tuesday but ended just in the red as mostly positive economic reports from the United States provided only partial relief from the panic spreading across the euro zone Greece s party leaders failed yet again to reach an agreement Therefore the country will hold new elections The upcoming balloting could result in a Greek exit from the euro zone Data released today showed that the euro zone narrowly escaped a recession after Germany boosted the region s overall growth rate by posting a 0 5 domestic growth rate leaving the reading for the 17 nation region unchanged at 0 1 and compensating for a negative reading from 12 of the 17 nations that make up the euro zone Germany s strong reading was quite a surprise after the country posted a modest 0 2 growth rate last quarter Stateside today s economic calendar was busy A gauge of homebuilder sentiment rose to its highest level in five years this month with the National Association of Home Builders Wells Fargo housing market index rising five points to a 29 reading from April s revised 24 reading Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a reading of 27 Manufacturing growth in the New York rebounded to a 17 1 reading in May easily topping the 9 5 analysts polled by MarketWatch predicted Also the Commerce Department said April retail sales growth slowed to 0 1 while the Labor Department said April consumer prices were flat According to the Labor Department U S consumer prices were unchanged in April as a drop gasoline costs offset rising food apparel and car prices Core prices rose 0 2 in line with consensus forecasts Retail spending inched up 0 1 in April slowing three months of hefty gains Auto sales rose 0 1 last month Analysts expected both auto sales and retail sales to come in unchanged Retail sales are up 6 4 compared to one year ago but down 6 6 from last month In company news LSB Industries LXU shares were halted following a plant explosion When they were removed from the trading halt they plunged to a 52 week low Shares of International Tower Hill Mines THM touched a 52 week low of after the company s Board of Directors accepted the resignation of James Komadina as President and Chief Executive CytRx Corporation CYTR fell after the company announced a reverse split of its common stock at a ratio of 1 for 7 CYTR s common stock will begin trading on NASDAQ on a split adjusted basis at market open May 16 Gold futures for June delivery the most active contract settled down 3 90 or 0 3 at 1 557 10 an ounce on the Comex Gold prices are now at their 2012 low July silver shed 1 to settle at 28 08 an ounce also a 2012 low June crude settled at 93 98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 80 cents or 0 8 their lowest settlement of the year Here s where the markets stood at end of day Dow Jones Industrial Average down 63 35 0 50 to 12 632 00S P 500 down 7 69 0 57 to 1 330 66NASDAQ Composite Index down 8 83 0 30 to 2 893 76GLOBAL SENTIMENTNikkei 225 down 0 81 Hang Seng Index up 0 81 Shanghai China Composite Index down 0 25 FTSE 100 down 0 51 UPSIDE MOVERS GRPN Beats on Q1 Sets Q2 Guidance in Range that Straddles Street View DKS Beats on Q1 Hikes Earnings View Above Prior Guidance Street Estimates FFN Q1 Revs Below Estimates EPS AboveDOWNSIDE MOVERS AVP Coty Withdraws Offer LPR Disappointing Q1 Earnings Report CNAM Wider Than Expected Q1 Loss |
WFC | Daily Market Review 16th May 2012 | Fundamental NewsToday s highlights Claimant Count Change GB 09 30 GMT Core CPI YoY EUR 10 00 GMT German 10 Year Bund Auction GER 10 30 GMT BoE Gov King Speaks BoE Inflation Report GB 10 30 GMT Manufacturing Sales MoM Building Permits Housing Starts U S 13 30 GMT Industrial Production MoM U S 14 15 GMT ECB President Draghi Speaks EUR 15 00 GMT FOMC Meeting Minutes U S 19 00 GMT The Department of Labor revealed that consumer prices in U S were flat in April compared to the previous month While the Commerce Department said that U S retail sales edged up by 0 1 percent in April following a revised 0 7 percent increase in March and the business inventories rose by 0 3 percent in March following a 0 6 percent increase in February Moreover the New York Fed said its general business conditions index jumped to 17 1 in May from 6 6 in April and the National Association of Home Builders revealed that the NAHB Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped to 29 in May from a downwardly revised 24 in April German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said they would consider measures to spur economic growth in Greece as long as voters there committed to the austerity demanded to stay in the euro Requests for measures to bolster growth will be considered and the European Union may also approach Greece with proposals Merkel said late yesterday at a joint press conference with Hollande during his first official visit to Berlin Unemployment in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD area remained unchanged in March the latest data showed The unemployment rate remained steady at 8 2 percent in March On the other hand GDP for the 17 nation bloc remained flat sequentially after shrinking 0 3 percent in the fourth quarter Other news from the eurozone are Germany s economic sentiment fell to 10 8 in May from 23 4 in April Greece raised slightly more than the target amount at a debt auction GDP in Italy dropped 0 8 percent quarter on quarter German GDP grew 0 5 percent in the first three months of 2012 and the French economy recorded zero growth due to falling investment While in U K trade deficit came in at GBP 8 6 billion in March unchanged compared with February the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday EUR USD The EUR USD was trading at 1 271200 almost 4 month lows at the time of writing and the pair is likely to continue its bearish trend as the political turmoil in Greece and the possible exit of Greece from the euro continues to weigh on market sentiments We may have some slight market corrections intra trade following the significant losses registered since the beginning of the week but given the uncertainties prevailing in the eurozone coupled with mixed fundamental data in the being released in Europe the pair is most likely on its way to test the support level of 1 26498 If the pair break through the support level then the next target might be the key level of 1 26000 Aug 2010 low levels To get more visibility on the pair Investors should keep an eye on the economic data which will be released today in Europe and U S Important data to follow today in the eurozone are Core CPI YoY in the Eurozone at 10 00 GMT German 10 Year Bund Auction at 10 30 GMT and the speech of ECB President Draghi at 15 00 GMT On the other hand the United States will release its Manufacturing Sales MoM Building Permits and Housing Starts at 13 30 GMT In addition the FOMC Meeting Minutes will come on the market at 19 00 GMT The resistance level is at The AUD USD was trading at 0 99111 at the time of writing and the pair seems on its way to test the support level of 0 98597 as market sentiments on the pair continues to be weak on Greek concerns and labor data coming today from Australia was not of much help to Aussie buyers Some slight market corrections are expected intra trade following the losses registered since the start of the week Investors should be prudent and wait for fundamental news from Europe and the U S to come on market to get visibility on the pair If weaker than expected economic data are released later in the European session the pair might fall below the support level of 0 98597 to hover around the key level of 0 98000 The resistance level is at 1 00144 Gold The yellow metal was trading at 1533 70 an ounce at the time of writing and the commodity is likely to continue its decreasing trend to test the support level of 1522 13 as Greek talks to form a coalition broke down setting the stage for a new round of elections and the possibility of the Greece leaving the Euro is increasing Market sentiment remains weak on gold and investors are favoring the dollar as a haven from Europe s debt crisis To get more visibility on the commodity investors should wait for fundamental news from Europe and U S to come on market Investors should also keep an eye on the trend of the USD as Gold often trade inversely to USD The resistance level is at 1545 50 Dow The Dow fell to an almost four month low as Greece s failure to form a new government offset better than estimated American economic data The Dow is likely to fall to test the support level of 12484 8 Investors should remain prudent as we might see some market corrections intra trade Investors should adopt a wait and see strategy on the index today to get visibility on the Dow If soft economic data are releases in the eurozone today then the Dow might fall to test the next support level of 12450 0 The resistance level is at 12645 9 |
WFC | How The Fracking Mess Is About To Make The Mortgage Mess Worse | One fact ought to tell you all you need to know about the risks faced by homeowners signing leases for natural gas drilling on their property Wells Fargo Company both the and a major lender to the country s second largest producer of natural gas refuses to make home loans for properties encumbered with natural gas drilling leases This salient fact comes from PDF written for the New York State Bar Association Journal by attorney Elisabeth N Radow Written in the form of an even tempered legal brief Radow relates one astounding finding after another Perhaps most relevant to homeowners who either have signed drilling leases or who may be asked to sign them in the future is this Signing a gas lease without lender consent is likely to constitute a mortgage default You read that right Default Her conclusion stems from something which most homeowners probably don t even realize Standard residential mortgages prohibit the use disposal storage or release of any hazardous substances on under or about the mortgaged property In mortgages hazardous substances include gasoline kerosene other flammable or toxic petroleum products volatile solvents toxic pesticides and herbicides materials containing asbestos or formaldehyde and radioactive materials Of course homeowners often have and use some of the above mentioned materials But the lenders may invoke their rights should industrial sized activities such as hydraulic fracturing or fracking occur Fracking a process often associated with natural gas drilling utilizes a cocktail of hazardous chemicals mixed with water Millions of gallons of the mixture are pumped under high pressure into each well to fracture deep shale formations and thereby release the embedded natural gas found there Beyond this homeowners with mortgages are prohibited from violating any environmental laws federal state or local Can they always count on drillers to observe those laws Now here s how the fracking mess intersects with the ongoing mortgage mess Most mortgages are sold into the secondary market to federal lenders such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and some are packaged in groups as mortgaged back securities and sold to investors The mortgage lenders make representations to buyers in the secondary market that the mortgages they are selling conform to widely accepted standards that prohibit the kinds of activities listed above In Radow s opinion it is likely that many residential mortgages with natural gas leases on the underlying properties have already made there way onto the books of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or into investor portfolios And with shale gas found across many states there are likely to be many more compromised mortgages sold into the secondary market in the future None of this might matter if the drilling and production did not affect the value of the underlying property In some instances property owners merely situated near drilling and production have suffered on their home and hobby farm because according to the lender gas wells and other structures in nearby lots can significantly degrade a property s value The owners came to the logical conclusion that if they cannot refinance their own home no potential buyer would likely be able to get a mortgage to purchase it should the couple ever want to sell Some of those people will simply end up walking away in order to protect the health of their families But why not turn to one s insurance company to pay for damage to one s property It turns out that homeowners insurance almost always excludes damage from industrial operations on one s residential property Radow writes And that s what natural gas drilling is an industrial operation Even for those who escape the problems of water contamination and human and animal health effects there remains the ever present possibility of damaging explosions and fires from drilling and production operations Homeowners insurance won t pay for that either Surely the drilling companies are responsible for explosions and fires linked to their operations Unlike water contamination which usually an underground phenomenon and often difficult to prove it should be obvious that the companies are responsible for damage from explosions and fires caused by their actions Don t count on it Radow seems to say In such circumstances homeowners may have to sue for damages and even if they win they may not get paid for all damages since the natural gas drillers admit in their regulatory filings that they may not carry enough insurance to pay for damage due to such mishaps Obviously the homebuilder hopes to make a second fortune by leasing those rights should they become valuable Naturally the newly aware homeowners worry about the possible loss of value in their homes should that come to pass It s no wonder Homebuilder D R Horton s energy subsidiary has been given the perpetual right to drill mine explore and remove any of the subsurface resources on or from the property by any means whatsoever Now we come to who will ultimately pay for any cleanup on abandoned underinsured properties contaminated and otherwise made uninhabitable or at least undersirable Perhaps you ve already figured out that it will be in almost all cases U S taxpayers who now own the two largest mortgage companies in the country Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac When these mortgage giants finally take possession of all the contaminated and impaired properties they will be obliged to clean them up and simultaneously bear the losses in the value of the mortgages issued on those properties In this way the average citizen will be subsidizing the natural gas industry by bearing the costs associated with devalued property and hazardous waste cleanup When all of this starts happening in a big way you can count on those in charge saying that nobody saw it coming |
PFE | Pfizer EPS misses by 0 03 misses on revenue | Pfizer NYSE PFE Q4 Non GAAP EPS of 0 55 misses by 0 03 GAAP EPS of 0 06 misses by 0 59
Revenue of 12 69B 9 2 Y Y misses by 40M
Shares 1 27 PM
Press Release |
WFC | Wells Fargo to pay California 8 5 million for privacy law violations | Reuters A Wells Fargo Co N WFC unit will pay 8 5 million to California and five of the state s counties to settle charges that it violated customers privacy due to not disclosing in a timely fashion that it was recording their calls Wells Fargo Bank broke California s privacy laws which require notifying customers at the start of a phone call that they are being recorded California Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement on Tuesday about the state s civil case against the company The period during which the violations occurred is unclear Wells Fargo informs customers that calls are being recorded a company spokesman said in a statement Wells has put procedures in place to ensure that disclosures about recording occur at the beginning of the call the spokesman said
The bank neither admitted nor denied liability Harris said |
WFC | Wall Street to end 2016 with small gain rate rises a worry Reuters poll | By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK Reuters The turbulent selloff that marked the start of the year for U S stocks may be over but the market will still end 2016 with a whimper posting just a modest gain according to strategists polled by Reuters Even as the U S economy improves concern over weak earnings rising U S interest rates and a global slowdown will hold equities back the poll found Many respondents favored economically sensitive shares such as those in technology and energy which was 2015 s worst performing sector over more defensive names The benchmark S P 500 SPX INX is expected to end 2016 at 2 100 up 2 percent from Thursday s close and 3 percent above the 2 043 94 it ended last year according to the median forecast of 42 strategists polled by Reuters Participants are slightly less pessimistic than they were following a sharp market retreat last September But forecasts for the current year are down from a December poll of Reuters when strategists predicted the benchmark index to finish 2016 at 2 207 We ve come a long way back from the depths of despair six or seven weeks ago said Leo Grohowski chief investment officer of BNY Mellon Wealth Management in New York We think between now and the end of the year the market grinds higher but it s not going to be without an uptick in volatility WEAK PROFITS He and other strategists cited continued earnings weakness as remaining one of the biggest worries for investors Even in a gently rising rate environment we can t expect much in the way of price to earnings market expansion said Grohowski who expects the S P 500 to end the year at 2 150 Analysts forecast another U S earnings drop in the first quarter and see just 2 percent profit growth for S P 500 companies for all of 2016 according to Thomson Reuters data That s made stocks seem less than cheap The forward 12 month ratio of price to earnings for the S P 500 is 16 9 above the long term average PE of 14 7 the data shows The Federal Reserve has held rates steady so far this year after a small hike in December though a majority of Wall Street s top banks expect the central bank to raise rates two more times by the end of the year Wall Street s key concern has been that the Fed will raise rates at a quicker clip than investors are expecting Other worries for U S stock investors cited in the poll include the potential for global acts of terrorism an impending U S presidential election and a strong dollar which is a negative for multinational companies Concern over the dollar is a fear that s going to linger for a while and it s only going to be dispelled by hard data proving it is not serving as a huge drag on economic growth or earnings gains said Brian Jacobsen chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Asset Management Jacobsen has a year end target on the S P 500 of 2 150 Still Jacobsen was among poll participants who is adding to energy and technology investments and recommending against more defensive sectors like utilities and telecommunications
The Dow Jones industrial average is forecast to rise to 18 050 by the end of 2016 about 2 percent higher than Thursday s close and up nearly 4 percent from 2015 s close |
PFE | Pfizer misses Q4 consensus | Pfizer PFE Q4 results Revenues 12 688M 9 2 Biopharma 10 532M 7 3 Upjohn 2 156M 32 2
Internal Medicine 2 365M 1 Oncology 2 466M 24 Vaccines 1 708M 5 Hospital 2 056M 2 Inflammation Immunology 1 251M 4 Rare Disease 686M 22
Key Product Sales Ibrance 1 283M 13 Eliquis 1 099M 21 Prevnar 13 Prevenar 13 1 579M 4 Xeljanz 607M 10 Enbrel 414M 21 Lyrica 433M 67 Lipitor 468M 11 Norvasc 215M 14 Sutent 231M 12 Xtandi alliance revenues 244M 26
Net loss 337M 14 5 loss share 0 06 14 3 non GAAP Net Income 3 108M 17 1 non GAAP EPS 0 55 12 7
2020 Guidance Revenues 48 5B 50 5B vs estimates for 49 6B non GAAP EPS 2 82 2 92 vs estimates for 2 90
Shares are down 1 premarket
Previously Pfizer EPS misses by 0 03 misses on revenue |
PFE | Pfizer s stock falls after profit misses expectations while revenue was in line | Shares of Pfizer Inc
PFE 1 29
fell 0 9 in premarket trading Tuesday after the drug maker reported a fourth quarter profit that missed expectations while revenue rose in line with forecasts The company reported a net loss that narrowed to 337 million or 6 cents a share from 394 million or 7 cents a share in the year ago period Excluding non recurring items adjusted earnings per share fell to 55 cents from 63 cents below the FactSet consensus of 58 cents Sales fell 9 to 12 69 billion to match the FactSet consensus as biopharma sales rose 7 to 10 53 billion and Upjohn sales dropped 32 to 2 16 billion For 2020 Pfizer expects adjusted EPS to be 2 82 to 2 92 surrounding the FactSet consensus of 2 90 and revenue of 48 5 billion to 50 5 billion compared with expectations of 49 6 billion The stock has rallied 7 7 over the past three months through Monday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA 0 38
has gained 5 3
div gpt ad 1569967089584 0 div iframe width 100 important min width 300px max width 800px |
WFC | U S top court rejects Wells Fargo challenge to 203 million class action judgment | WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Supreme Court on Monday rejected Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co s appeal of a 203 million judgment that it was ordered to pay to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing it of imposing excessive overdraft fees
The justices left in place an October 2014 ruling by the San Francisco based 9th U S Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled in favor of class action plaintiffs |
WFC | Is Commercial Loan Growth A Positive Sign For The Economy | Lending activity is generally considered a lagging indicator of the business cycle and rightly so A look at a long term chart of business loans for instance shows that this series has been known to rise well after the start of a new recession But is the value of this indicator more timely in the current climate in which the pain of the credit crunch is seared into the collective memory The financial sector is still skittish after suffering heavily in the Great Recession Indeed no corner of the economy took a heavier blow than finance The slump of 2007 2009 after all was partly triggered by an unusually deep financial crisis It s only natural that banks even after nearly three years of modest economic growth are still cautious If so what does that say about the continuing rise in business loans generally The latest numbers on commercial and industrial loans as compiled by the Federal Reserve show that lending is still rising The actual dollar amounts can be misleading however if we re trying to gauge the broad moves in the economy A slightly better approach is to look at rolling 12 month percentage changes History shows that when a new recession strikes the annual pace of business lending if it isn t already falling peaks relatively early once the economy begins to shrink The lone exception to this rule for the past nine recessions is the 1981 1982 slump Economist John Silvia of Wells Fargo tells us in Popular wisdom holds that the economy needs banks to lend before the economy gets going In reality businesses are cautious about borrowing at the start of the recovery and will invest their own cash first and then borrow at the bank Meanwhile the bank is also cautious since it probably has some bad loans it wants to work off from the last recession As a result bank lending is a lagging not leading indicator of the recovery Business lending these days continue to climb at a robust rate over year earlier levels see chart below Through February commercial and industrial loans rose 12 2 vs the same month from 2011 according to That s up from January s 11 0 pace and by far the highest rate of increase since the Great Recession ended in mid 2009 The weekly reports through the end of March show more of the same Commercial and industrial lending totaled 1 39 trillion seasonally adjusted annual rate as of March 28 2012 up 11 6 vs the last week of March in 2011 Bank loans are just one statistic of course and traditionally these numbers are considered of limited use as an early signal of economic trouble When the economy faced new headwinds last spring and during the spring of 2010 too business lending didn t flinch from its revival Maybe that was a sign of confidence that the economic recovery would survive as it has so far Meantime it s worth remembering that the economic turmoil in recent years has been accompanied by the deepest financial sector crisis since the Great Depression It s reasonable to wonder if banks are more sensitive to recession risk these days If so is commercial lending activity more likely to dry up earlier than usual if loan officers think the economy s set to falter In that case can we take comfort from the fact that banks continue to extend credit to the business community The answers are unavoidably speculative What we do know is that bank lending continues to expand That alone is no guarantee that the economy will dodge a bullet On the other hand any decline in lending activity would be seen as ominous in the current climate For the moment however the lending skies still look sunny |
PFE | Pfizer to offer generic Viagra through digital health clinic | Pfizer NYSE PFE subsidiary Greenstone inks a supply agreement with Roman a digital healthcare clinic for men to offer its authorized generic version of Viagra sildenafil citrate to Roman members
The product will be manufactured in Europe in the same facilities that make branded Viagra |
PFE | Pfizer to Market Viagra Through Roman s Telehealth Service | Pfizer NYSE PFE will provide patients of Roman a men s health subsidiary of the privately held digital health company Ro with the only Pfizer authorized generic version of Viagra a blockbuster erectile dysfunction treatment
Under the deal Pfizer s U S generic subsidiary Greenstone will provide generic Viagra to Roman patients following a telehealth consultation with one of Roman s licensed physicians This is the first time that Greenstone is collaborating with a direct to patient health company
Viagra won Food and Drug Administration approval in 1998 and it grew into one of the world s best selling medications with global sales in excess of 2 billion at their peak in 2012 Generic drugmakers including Teva Pharmaceutical NYSE TEVA and Mylan NASDAQ MYL have been marketing generic versions of the drug since 2018 but Greenstone is the only manufacturer authorized to produce pills in the same plant as Pfizer s brand name drug In Q3 2019 Pfizer reported global Viagra revenue of 120 million including 20 million in the United States
The agreement is significant because men are 24 less likely to go to a doctor over a one year period than women and according to the companies only one quarter of the 30 million American men experiencing ED are getting treatment By providing access to generic Viagra through an online doctor s visit the companies hope to break down barriers preventing men from consulting with their doctor about ED while also ensuring patients receive a high quality product as Viagra is one of the most counterfeited drugs in the world |
WFC | Weak U S retail sales highlight risks to economic outlook | By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON Reuters U S retail sales fell less than expected in February but a sharp downward revision to January s data could reignite concerns about the economy s growth prospects Tuesday s weak report from the Commerce Department bucked the trend of recent labor market data that had suggested the economy remained on solid ground despite some fears of a looming recession The data could give the Federal Reserve more reason to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday when it is due to release its latest policy statement The economy s engines are not going into reverse but at the moment it is hard to see GDP with a 2 percent handle Based on today s lackluster sales report policymakers will be in no hurry to raise interest rates said Chris Rupkey chief economist at MUFG Union Bank in New York Retail sales dipped 0 1 percent last month as automobile purchases fell and cheaper gasoline undercut receipts at service stations January s retail sales were revised down to show a 0 4 percent drop instead of the 0 2 percent gain previously reported Underscoring the report s weakness retail sales excluding automobiles gasoline building materials and food services were unchanged last month after a downwardly revised 0 2 percent increase in January These so called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product and were previously reported to have risen 0 6 percent in January Economists had forecast retail sales slipping 0 2 percent and core retail sales advancing 0 2 percent in February The retail sales report combined with sliding oil prices to push U S stocks lower The S P 500 retail index however was little changed Prices for U S government debt were marginally higher while the dollar DXY was largely unchanged against a basket of currencies Last month s weak core retail sales reading together with January s modest gain suggest that consumer spending will probably remain tepid in the first quarter after growing at a 2 0 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter Still consumer spending which accounts for more than two thirds of the U S economy remains supported by a strengthening labor market and rising house prices Economists cut their first quarter GDP growth estimates by as much as half a percentage point to as low as a 1 9 percent rate after the data The economy grew at a 1 percent pace in the fourth quarter Economic growth prospects were further dented by another report from the Commerce Department showing business inventories edging up 0 1 percent in January as sales continued to decline That pushed the inventory to sales ratio to its highest level since May 2009 suggesting inventories could remain a drag on growth in the near term The buildup looks unintentional We would not be surprised to see businesses try to rein in inventories in the coming months said Tim Quinlan a senior economist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Securities in Charlotte North Carolina FED ON HOLD The reports came as Fed officials gathered for a two day policy meeting The U S central bank is expected to stand pat as policymakers monitor developments on global financial markets domestic inflation and the labor market The Fed hiked its benchmark overnight interest rate in December for the first time in nearly a decade In a third report the Labor Department said its producer price index dropped 0 2 percent last month on lower energy and food costs after edging up 0 1 percent in January In the 12 months through February the PPI was unchanged after falling 0 2 percent in January It was the first time since January 2015 that the year on year PPI did not decline A key measure of underlying producer price pressures that excludes food energy and trade services rose 0 1 percent last month after advancing 0 2 percent in January The so called core PPI was up 0 9 percent in the 12 months through February the largest gain since July 2015 These increases argue against the idea that deflation risks are spilling over into the U S economy said John Ryding chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York Retail sales last month were weighed down by a 4 4 percent drop in the value of sales at service stations Gasoline prices dropped 9 percent in February according to the U S Energy Information Administration Auto dealerships furniture retailers and electronics and appliance stores all had lower sales But there were some pockets of strength with sales rising at clothing stores and building materials and garden equipment merchants
Receipts rose at restaurants and bars as well as at sporting goods and hobby stores showing that consumers still have an appetite for discretionary spending |
WFC | Wells Fargo CEO s pay unchanged at 19 3 million | Reuters Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Co Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf s 2015 compensation was unchanged from a year earlier
Stumpf earned about 19 3 million in 2015 according to the compensation approved by Wells Fargo s board |
WFC | Markets see U S inflation even with Fed unconvinced | By Richard Leong
NEW YORK Reuters Market indicators are flashing signs that investors see inflation after it was almost non existent since the credit crisis on the rise despite skepticism from the Fed and the relatively slow pace of U S economic growth
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and other top policymakers are not convinced that inflation is heating up enough to warrant higher rates But developments in inflation linked bonds and the dollar show an inflation trade is back in vogue especially as oil and other commodities have rebounded from multi year lows
Investors see the turnaround in commodities as well as a dovish Fed as a catalyst for stronger performance in inflation linked assets including Treasury Inflation Protected Securities More money is now invested in fixed income funds focused on inflation protection than in nearly three years
It s not a head fake It s a legitimate turn for the market said Brian Jacobsen chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Fund Management in Menomonee Falls Wisconsin
The bond market in particular is signaling the upward shift in inflation sentiment which had been battered five weeks ago with domestic oil prices tumbling to 12 year lows
The yield premium on regular U S Treasuries over TIPS known as inflation breakeven rates has risen from the weakest levels since early 2009 on signs that domestic core inflation is accelerating
We could see reflation and that would bring us back to normal Jacobsen said
On Friday the five year TIPS breakeven rate rose to 1 54 percent its highest since July before retreating to 1 51 percent in late trade The 10 year breakeven rate reached 1 64 percent which was its highest since November before fading a bit to 1 62 percent
WARMING UP TO TIPS
The recovery of TIPS breakeven rates since they bottomed on Feb 11 has sparked a fresh wave of cash into the bonds
Assets of TIPS focused funds including exchange traded ones grew to 47 55 billion in the week ended March 16 the most since June 2013 according to Lipper a unit of Thomson Reuters
Structural investors are coming back to the asset class Some of them haven t been in them for years said Michael Pond head of global inflation linked research at Barclays LON BARC in New York
Since mid February TIPS have posted a solid 1 13 percent gain better than the 1 19 percent loss on regular Treasuries according to indexes compiled by Barclays But they lagged the more impressive 8 57 percent return on junk bonds and 12 18 percent on the Standard Poor s 500 index SPXT
TIPS gains have been partly stoked by the resurgence in oil and industrial metal prices during this five week streak
U S oil futures CLc1 briefly broke above 41 a barrel on Friday to their strongest levels since early December Copper has risen 14 percent since Feb 11 while iron ore has jumped 20 percent
The dollar index DXY meanwhile has lost 0 56 percent since Feb 11 and analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch noted Friday that rising inflation tends to worsen performance in a currency so they anticipate more losses in the greenback
CAUTIOUS FED
While markets are waving flags about possible acceleration in inflation the Federal Reserve sees downside risks from overseas with lingering concerns about Chinese growth and further policy easing in Europe and Japan
To be sure a renewed drop in oil prices if major producers cannot arrive at a deal to freeze output a sustained rebound in the dollar and or signs of further global weakness could wipe out gains from the inflation strategy
Fed officials on average halved the number of rate hikes they see this year to two from four at their policy meeting this week and Yellen said Wednesday at her press conference she was not convinced U S core inflation has picked up
U S core consumer inflation excluding volatile energy and food components is rising at a year over year rate of 2 3 percent the highest since May 2012
Despite stronger data the FOMC continues to question whether core inflation is really picking up BofA Merrill analysts wrote on Friday
The bottom line of all of this in our view is ongoing upside risks to inflation breakevens as the markets recognize the Fed can create inflation after all |
WFC | Westbrook Durant power Thunder to win over 76ers | The Sports Xchange Russell Westbrook set the tone and Kevin Durant finished the job The dynamic duo for the Oklahoma City Thunder was brilliant once again as the surging Northwest Division leaders clinched a playoff berth Westbrook notched his league leading 13th triple double with 20 points 15 rebounds and 10 assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised past the Philadelphia 76ers 111 97 on Friday at the Wells Fargo NYSE WFC Center I come out and compete every night at a high level and try to keep my energy up for my teammates Westbrook said I think it s fun to see where we re playing the right way It s fun for our guys to see everybody happy playing the right way Durant added 26 points 13 rebounds and six assists scoring at least 20 points for the 54th straight game It s just fun playing the right way Durant said We had some nice plays out there You could tell the crowd was into it We just like the way we played tonight Enes Kanter scored 16 points and Steven Adams had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Oklahoma City which improved to 47 22 and won for the third straight time The Thunder won their 14th in a row over the 76ers their longest streak over any opponent in the league Oklahoma City also won its 20th road game pushing its mark to 20 13 After building a 17 point lead at the end of the third quarter the Thunder quickly extended it to 95 72 with 9 17 remaining They continued to play an up tempo style and Philadelphia had trouble locating Oklahoma City s shooters The game was never in doubt from there The biggest drama came late in the fourth quarter as Westbrook needed one assist for his triple double His pass to Durant for a layup with 4 14 left sealed the triple double There s a competitive anger you see in their faces a determination and will more than you can put any stat on 76ers coach Brett Brown said of Westbrook and Durant We shake their hands They are one of the elite teams in the NBA and they are the head of the snake In the process Westbrook tied Grant Hill 1996 97 and Jason Kidd 2007 08 for 13 triple doubles in a season dating back at least 25 years I m more impressed and more amazed at 7 30 8 00 9 00 when he comes flying out at shootaround and comes jumping like it s a trampoline that s impressive Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of Westbrook Nik Stauskas led the 76ers with a career high 23 points and Hollis Thompson added 16 I ve been continuing to work hard and I ve been working and coming here all year waiting for things to click Stauskas said The past four or five games I ve gotten into a good offensive rhythm Jerami Grant scored 15 points Nerlens Noel added 12 and Isaiah Canaan had 10 for Philadelphia which dropped its fourth consecutive game and fell to 9 60 The 76ers who have lost 17 of their last 18 overall are 1 14 on the second half of back to backs this season The Thunder were utterly dominant on the boards with a 63 36 margin They had 39 boards in the first half an arena record for a half We re small and we re not thick Brown said We re light right now They are the best in the NBA I wish it was better than that Westbrook electrified the crowd with a vicious one handed dunk for an early 15 10 lead in the first quarter Every once in a while I may throw one down Westbrook said A lot of people tell me I haven t been dunking a lot lately but I beg to differ After trailing 27 23 at the end of the first quarter the 76ers surprisingly ripped off an 11 0 run to go ahead 34 27 It was their largest lead of the first half The Thunder received 25 of their 53 first half points from Durant 14 and Westbrook 11 Oklahoma City led 53 47 at halftime
Stauskas was hot for the 76ers with 13 points in 16 first half minutes Stauskas hit his first five shots from the floor and wound up 5 of 6 Philadelphia hung tough thanks to only three turnovers in the first half Give Philadelphia credit They re never out of it Donovan said They keep playing It s a great tribute to Brett |
LB | 2 More Hurdles Standing in the Way of L Brands Shedding Victoria s Secret | Although parent company L Brands NYSE LB has yet to confirm it the working theory that it s considering a sale of its Victoria s Secret arm remains the market s assumption A person familiar with the matter intimated the possibility to Bloomberg on Wednesday of last week
The prospect is far from guaranteed however L Brands may be looking to sell Victoria s Secret but that doesn t inherently mean a suitor is willing to buy it at least not at a palatable price The lingerie brand s same store sales have been shrinking for a long while now and full year operating profits are frequently flirting with nil Any organization that acquires it will be taking on a sizable repair project
The impasses to a sale go well beyond slumping sales however While news of the sale and the corresponding exit of CEO and founder Leslie Wexner have dominated the headlines since Bloomberg introduced the idea a couple of other headaches are waiting in the wings Both raise questions of how fiscal responsibility might be divvied up
1 La Senza s Unpaid Bills
Some L Brands shareholders will remember the company sold off its smaller lingerie store chain La Senza in early 2019 to private equity firm Regent Though the fiscal details of the deal were never disclosed it looked like a relatively straightforward transaction rooted in L Brands desire to focus on fewer but bigger brands
There was a curious quirk included within the terms of the deal however according to La Senza inventory supplier MGF It says L Brands was to guarantee payment on 20 million worth of inventory delivered to La Senza between the middle of 2019 and May of this year
As of its latest tally MGF reports it has not been paid for 42 million worth of inventory it s supplied for La Senza It s unclear to what extent L Brands may be held liable for that figure
La Senza for the record was already losing money when Regent bought it logging an operating loss on the order of 40 million the year before the deal was made It s unlikely the retailer in just one year has swung back to a profitability that would allow it to pay all of its bills
Were it just a few million dollars worth of inventory it would be an annoyance but not necessarily a dealbreaker But it s not just a 20 million check L Brands may have to write the company s recent SEC filings also indicate it s guaranteed lease payments of now up to 44 million to keep La Senza stores open The last of those leases expires in 2028 The potential hiccup is how might the total 64 million liability be divvied up when one of the two big divisions of L Brands can t actually afford to pay La Senza s unpaid bills either
For perspective L Brands has recorded an operating profit of 1 3 billion on sales of 13 1 billion for the past four reported quarters though only 267 million of that operating profit came from Victoria s Secret
2 Divvying up debt
In that same vein Jefferies analysts highlight another matter that will surely surface should divestiture whispers become reality From the Jefferies analysis We see a heavy debt load creating a large obstacle for investors that seek a split of Bath Body Works and Victoria s Secret The heavy debt load in question stands at just under 5 5 billion worth of long term liabilities per L Brands most recent SEC filing
There is no solution the parent and the suitor and shareholders are likely to agree on Technically speaking Victoria s Secret is the bigger unit as measured by sales accounting for 56 of 2018 s total top line of 13 2 billion But as measured by profits Bath Body Works is the workhorse contributing 75 of 2018 s operating income of 1 44 billion
The suitor will argue it s doing L Brands a favor already by taking Victoria s Secret off of its hands and shouldn t be saddled with much if any debt L Brands will argue Victoria s Secret offers the most potential and should at least take a fair share of that debt load with it
It s possible the debt matter could be so unresolvable one or both of the parties at the table decides to walk away
Buckle up or hunker down your choice
Of course making bets on buyouts or divestitures is a bad idea so for bystanders these two additional wrenches will mean little Most investors are already on the sidelines uncertain of L Brands future with or without a split of the company s brands
But for the shareholders hoping a sale of Victoria s Secret would serve as a graceful exit of another soured consumer goods name don t hold your breath This story is apt to get messier before the dust finally settles |
LB | L Brands nears sale of Victoria s Secret to Sycamore Partners | L Brands is nearing a deal to sell its Victoria s Secret brand to private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a deal that could be announced as soon as next week people familiar with the matter tell CNBC L Brands CEO Les Wexner has been under mounting pressure due to his ties to the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein He has also been criticized for the poor performance of the company s Victoria s Secret brand under his watch |
LB | L Brands nears deal to sell Victoria s Secret to private equity group report | L Brands
LB 1 78
is close to a deal to sell Victoria s Secret to private equity company Sycamore Partners CNBC reported Sunday night A price was not reported but CNBC said the deal could be announced this week The Wall Street Journal reported in January that L Brands was considering selling the Victoria s Secret brand as well as Chief Executive Lex Wexner stepping down from his role CNBC said it was unclear what Wexner s role if any would have after the deal L Brands shares are down 11 year to date compared to the S P 500 s
SPX 0 17
23 gain
div gpt ad 1569967089584 0 div iframe width 100 important min width 300px max width 800px |
LB | L Brands 6 off Victoria s Secret development | Shares of L Brands NYSE LB are up 6 02 on the expectation that a deal to sell Victoria s Secret will be announced by the company this week L Brands is trading at the 25 level for the first time since last summer It s unclear what Lex Wexner s role will be following the Victoria s Secret transaction
Previously Victoria s Secret deal expected this week Feb 9 |
LB | L Brands Is Looking to Sell Victoria s Secret | L Brands NYSE LB is close to a deal to sell its Victoria s Secret brand to Sycamore Partners according to a report from CNBC Terms of a deal are not final yet as negotiations are ongoing and could still fall through But a deal could be announced as soon as next week
A sale of Victoria s Secret VS would be good news for shareholders of L Brands given the abysmal performance of the VS business lately The shares spiked about 7 on the news in pre market trading on Monday
A time to sell
In early January preliminary sales results were issued for the holiday period that saw comparable sales at Victoria s Secret decline by 12 Year to date for the current fiscal year comp sales are down 8 which reveals the situation getting worse Victoria s Secret is not only losing share to American Eagle Outfitters Aerie brand but it s losing relevancy in the retail industry altogether
Talks of a possible sale signals that management doesn t have the answers as to how to fix the iconic brand Given that L Brands generates 13 billion in annual sales and that Victoria s Secret makes up most of that amount the company would likely receive a hefty sum in a deal
What would a sale mean for investors
While Victoria s Secret is heading south in a hurry L Brands better half has been the Bath Body Works business where comp sales were up 9 year over year in November and December By shedding Victoria s Secret management would draw more attention to the better business and that would likely send the shares higher |
LB | Why L Brands Stock Jumped 27 8 in January | What happened
Shares of L Brands NYSE LB soared 27 8 in January according to data from S P Global Market Intelligence following an initial report from The Wall Street Journal that the consumer discretionary company was weighing whether to sell its Victoria s Secret subsidiary
So what
It was no mystery that the Victoria s Secret concept has weighed down L Brands as a whole in recent quarters with its persistently declining same store sales and profits amid an increasing number of consumers turning to the wares of trendier competitors
So L Brands stock unsurprisingly popped 13 on Jan 29 alone when the Journal broke the news According to the Journal s sources CEO Leslie Wexner was in talks to sell Victoria s Secret retire from his position or both amid pressure from activist investors They want to maximize shareholder value by separating the outperforming Bath Body Works concept from the rest of the business
Now what
Sure enough on Feb 9 CNBC separately cited people familiar with the matter as saying L Brands is close to a deal to sell Victoria s Secret to private equity firm Sycamore Partners and could even announce a formal agreement by the end of this week
Nothing is set in stone at this stage however So I think investors would do well not to incorporate a potential divestment as a core piece of their bull thesis for L Brands stock But given the prospect of separating this struggling piece of its business from its stronger retail concepts it was no surprise to see L Brands shares climbing higher in response |
WFC | Chart Of The Day Faulty Analysis Promotes Bullish Bias | During bullish market advances there is a lot of faulty analysis done in order to promote a bullish bias Wells Fargo Advisors yesterday pretty much just captured the gold in this competition with this piece of lunacy via Bloomberg Wells Fargo Advisors examined return for stocks over next 10 yrs when the start date is three years into a bull market and found in prior cycles that stocks have risen a median of 162 implies S P 500 can reach 3700 by 2022 Firm examined five prior cycles starting in year 3 of bull market Chief Equities Strategist Stuart Freeman in note yesterday1973 1983 1977 1987 1983 1993 1985 1995 1993 20032006 cycle only 6 yrs old posting 12 return10 yr returns range from low of 57 for 73 83 cycle to high of 194 for 85 95 cycle What we are suggesting is that there is much evidence the last 40 plus years of later cycle returns following the first upleg in cyclical bull markets and periods of mid cycle meandering The problems with this analysis are many The biggest issue is that the analysis only covers the period that encompasses the greatest bull market in history By excluding the secular bear market of the 60 70 s the analysis is heavily skewed to the upside The report smacks of data mining to serve a point Furthermore the data periods are very misleading The study says that the firm examined five prior cycles starting in THIRD YEAR of the bull market This might fly by individuals who have never studied market history but 1973 1974 was one of the worst market plunges on record The market bottomed in 1974 which means the first start date would not have been until September of 1977 Moreover the data sets are consistently overlapping each other so performance data is being double counted to garner higher returns The reality is that the markets actually do work in major long term cycles The current bear market cycle that begin in 2000 has continued to work off the excess overvaluations that occurred during the bull market of the 80 s The key difference today and going forward which nullifies Wells Fargo s projection of the next great secular bull is that the three main drivers of those returns no longer exist The massive bull market from 1982 2000 was driven by falling interest rates inflation and debt accumulation With interest rates and inflation near zero and debt at historic levels both public and private the reality is that these will act more as headwinds to future stock market returns as well as the economy Furthermore the baby boomer generation which were a driving factor in the 80 90 s are now beginning to cycle out and become net drawers on assets rather than accumulators The point to be made is that selective data mining can give you any result you want The point of doing research however is to let the data challenge your own views and beliefs so that you can make more intelligent decisions about when and how to allocate investments After the last 11 years of this particular secular bear market with two 50 declines in asset prices it isn t surprising that investors are currently chasing fixed income rather than stocks Maybe its time for Wall Street to understand that Main Street has finally caught on to their game |
WFC | Sour Macro Data Spoiled Equity Market Last Week What s Ahead | On the macro front last week the overall view of the world s economies was disappointing Equities took their cue from the macro news and shares in all sectors were lower Most exchanges were also down apart from Denmark and Hong Kong The PIIGS were the worst performers with Portugal and Spain falling most EU PMI managed to meet expectations and the US PMI inched higher better than expected but then investors were slayed with negative surprises EU Retail sales were down 2 1 yoy and German and French industrial production were worse than expected US nonfarm payrolls did not meet expectations with 120k jobs created versus 205k expected Overall it leaves the tone in the market negative This week there is a focus on the Federal Reserve s Beige Book and a string of CPI numbers Investors should take the Spanish and Italian bond yields movement as guidance to overall risk willingness Big names are reporting this week as Google is releasing its Q1 earnings along with banking giants Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Analysts following Google are expecting EPS of USD9 64 but the company has surprised consensus on average over the past 4 quarters and another surprise could help to promote the tech rally Banks which have been the best performing sector as of late could also benefit if Wells Fargo reports strong earnings |
LB | Is L Brands Rallying On Rumored Sale Of Victoria s Secret | L Brands Inc s NYSE LB shares surged 12 9 during the trading session on Jan 29 The stock gained momentum on media speculations that the company is exploring alternatives for its beleaguered Victoria s Secret lingerie brand Reports also highlighted the possible stepping down of the company s CEO Les Wexner Meanwhile no official confirmation was made by L Brands on the news Nonetheless per the reports management has been in talks with Sycamore Partners a private equity firm for a full or partial sale of the brand Industry experts are of the opinion that the move will help simplify the company s organizational structure and allow it to invest in profitable zones Some of the market pundits have even emphasized on the spinning off of the Bath Body Works chain and a board overhaul Weakness in the Victoria s Secret brand which once ruled the U S lingerie market has been marring the company s overall performance L Brands is struggling to make a comeback in the wake of rising competition from intimate apparel brands like ThirdLove and Aerie Also the company has often been accused of failing to bring in trendy merchandise by industry experts We note that L Brands had earlier taken measures to fix the underperforming brand by introducing merchandise and marketing strategy as well as slashing the workforce to contain costs But these measures have failed to generate the desired results L Brands recent disappointing holiday performance mainly owing to weak sales at Victoria s Secret clearly demonstrates that this Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell company s actions to revive brand is failing to resonate with changing consumer preferences While the overall company s net sales fell 4 1 comparable sales dropped 3 during the holiday period Victoria s Secret comparable sales dropped 12 during the combined November and December period wider than the decline of 4 in the prior year period Nonetheless Bath Body Works put up a stellar show with a 9 jump in comparable sales Stocks to Capture Your AttentionChico s FAS Inc NYSE CHS has an impressive long term expected earnings growth rate of 15 and flaunts a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see Zumiez Inc NASDAQ ZUMZ also a Zacks Rank 1 stock boasts an expected long term earnings growth rate of 12 Boot Barn Holdings Inc NYSE BOOT has an impressive long term earnings growth rate of 17 and a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple Digit Profit PotentialThe biotech sector is projected to surge beyond 775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases They re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases Zacks has just released Century of Biology 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of 50 83 and 164 in as little as 2 months The stocks in this report could perform even better |
PFE | Exact Sciences Rides On Cologuard Eyes Merger Synergies | On Jan 7 2020 we initiated coverage on Exact Sciences Corporation NASDAQ EXAS While we are impressed with the company s steady top line performance its overdependence on a single brand may be worrisome The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Exact Sciences is a molecular diagnostics company focusing on the early detection and prevention of some of the deadliest forms of cancer Over the past year the stock has outperformed its soaring 51 8 While the industry has risen 10 6 Exact Sciences exhibited a stellar performance with better than expected earnings results in the third quarter of 2019 The company demonstrated strength across its entire business driven by encouraging performances in its Cologuard business It is also progressing well in terms of fulfilling its three priorities of 2019 which are strengthening its partnership with Pfizer NYSE PFE enhancing Cologuard and advancing its pipeline of blood based cancer diagnostic tests Exact Sciences Corporation Price In this regard the company is confident about capturing at least 40 of the U S colorectal cancer screening market showing a sharp rise from about 5 now This is possible on the back of strong sales teams alliance with Pfizer an innovative marketing campaign and deep payer relationships providing a powerful commercial organizational support to Cologuard s growth Pfizer tie up has been valuable in driving Cologuard s adoption We are currently looking forward to Exact Science s recently closed merger with advanced molecular diagnostics company Genomic Health which combined two of the strongest brands in cancer diagnostics namely Cologuard and OncotypeDX thus bolstering growth On an adjusted basis the combined entity is projected to generate revenues of 1 6 billion and a gross profit of 1 2 billion in 2020 Annualized cost synergies of approximately 25 million are expected within the third year from the completion date of the deal primarily via reduction of public company costs and purchase optimization On the flip side escalating expenses are putting pressure on the company s operating margin Excessive reliance on Cologuard and competitive headwinds persist as major downsides Other Stocks Worth a LookA few other top ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Haemonetics Corporation NYSE HAE West Pharmaceutical Services NYSE WST and Omnicell NASDAQ OMCL While Haemonetics sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy the other two carry the same top Zacks Rank as Exact Sciences You can see Haemonetics has an estimated long term earnings growth rate of 13 5 West Pharmaceutical Services has an anticipated long term earnings growth rate of 14 Omnicell has a long term earnings growth rate of 12 5 Just Released Zacks 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of 24 6 per year These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout |
Subsets and Splits
No saved queries yet
Save your SQL queries to embed, download, and access them later. Queries will appear here once saved.