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PFE | Race Oncology Rediscovering A Lost Chemotherapeutic | Race Oncology Ltd AX RAC is currently focused on the development of bisantrene which had been the subject of over 40 clinical trials in the 1980s and 1990s as part of Lederle s search for a safer anthracycline a widely used class of chemotherapeutics that is associated with cardiotoxicity Despite positive efficacy data across a variety of cancers especially AML it was even approved for the treatment of AML in France in 1990 but never commercialised development stopped after Lederle was sold to Wyeth and then Wyeth was sold to Pfizer NYSE PFE Race will be developing bisantrene for relapsed refractory AML and expects to initiate a pivotal trial for approval in the US around the end of 2018
Efficacy indicated in relapsed refractory AML
Bisantrene had been investigated in trials covering a plethora of different cancers and some efficacy had been indicated in leukaemias and lymphomas as well as breast and ovarian cancer AML in particular was especially compelling In five studies totalling 85 heavily pretreated patients bisantrene demonstrated a 48 complete response rate Earlier studies also indicated that the cardiotoxicity typically seen with anthracyclines was greatly reduced with bisantrene
To read the entire report Please click on the pdf File Below |
PFE | Nightstar To Raise 86 3M In IPO | United Kingdom based biotech company Nightstar Therapeutics NASDAQ NITE announced last week that it plans to raise around 86 million to help fund its gene therapy trials in an initial public offering Nightstar has hinted back in April its plans to launch its IPO
The biotech company which started back in 2013 plans to study rare retinal diseases by developing gene therapies and running trials intends to fund the project as it offers around 5 4 million shares at a price of around 13 to 15 per share
Earlier this month the company filed an amended F 1 form at the U S Securities and Exchange Commission SEC with the aforementioned provisions along with an option to allow another 804 000 shares The initial public offering has the potential to reach a value of as much as 92 46 million should it be offered at the maximum price
Nightstar Therapeutics which is also known as a retinal gene therapy company has been developing therapies that targeted blind causing diseases These includes projects such as treatment for choroideremia
According to the company s F 1 filing they have been able to see an improved visual acuity in around 90 of those patients that participated in their study which is one year since undergoing the company s gene therapy treatment
The company which would be moving into the third phase of the study by next year was not able to generate revenue last year and even reported a loss of 69 cents per share or a total of 12 2 million
Nightstar is currently headed by a team of biopharma vets with experience in the study Its F 1 filing also revealed that it has spent around 40 million since the beginning of the year until June as it kicks of the third phase of its study
The company reportedly has created a team which will focus on the expansion of their clinical trial program in public markets Former Pfizer NYSE PFE clinical lead Tuyen Ong is set to become the company s chief development officer
The gene therapy company intends to use the ticker symbol NITE and list its American depositary shares on the Nasdaq composite index Among the underwriters for the initial public offering of Nightstar shares includes BMO Capital Markets and Jefferies Leerink Partners |
AMD | 2 Chipmakers Among Our Breakout Charts To Watch | Here are four stocks two of them chipmakers that are moving on news and technical momentum
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD jumped 1 11 to 33 15 on 61 2 million shares Tuesday An analyst raised his target price on the stock as the company received favorable reviews this week for its latest PC chip and said some new products would be available worldwide
The move on nearly 3x its average volume broke the stock above lateral resistance If it gets through the double top near 34 25 our next target is close to 40
Bitcoin Investment Trust OTC GBTC rose 62 cents to 16 35 on 7 4 million shares Tuesday The stock which has surged from below 4 in February recently pulled back but bounced off rising trend line support The up move doesn t look done yet and the rising channel points to 20 21 next
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation NASDAQ LSCC gained 36 cents to 15 38 on 2 6 million shares The chipmaker announced it will hold its second quarter 2019 conference call on Tuesday July 30 The move on 1 1 2 times its average volume edged the stock above a quadruple top The steeply rising channel from November s low under 6 points to 17 50 and 20 as next targets
Overstock com NASDAQ OSTK popped 51 cents to 17 15 on 18 9 million shares more than 6x its average volume The online retailer s cryptocurrency unit tZERO said it will tokenize a forthcoming major motion picture release OSTK has rallied from just above 9 in the last month and may be due for some consolidation before making a move towards next lateral resistance at around 20 75
See Harry s video chart analysis on these stocks |
PFE | AstraZeneca s potential 3 billion cancer pill wins early approval | By Ben Hirschler LONDON Reuters A new lung cancer pill from AstraZeneca L AZN designed for patients whose disease has worsened after treatment with other therapies won early U S approval on Friday in a boost for the British drugmaker Tagrisso also known as AZD9291 is one of several cancer medicines AstraZeneca hopes will rebuild its sales following patent losses on older drugs During its defense against a takeover attempt by Pfizer N PFE last year the firm forecast the drug could eventually sell as much as 3 billion a year Industry analysts are more cautious about sales in the next few years with consensus expectations pointing to revenue of 1 1 billion in 2020 according to Thomson Reuters Cortellis The U S Food and Drug Administration FDA approved the once daily tablet to treat a sub set of patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer earlier than analysts had expected the official date for a decision was February 2016 A spokeswoman said AstraZeneca would make Tagrisso available to eligible U S patients as soon as possible and its price would be comparable to other oral cancer therapies Like a rival product in development at Clovis Oncology O CLVS Tagrisso targets a genetic mutation known as T790M that helps tumors evade current lung cancer pills The FDA also approved a new companion diagnostic test for use with Tagrisso made by Roche VX ROG to detect this mutation Tagrisso s path to market has been unusually fast taking just over 2 1 2 years from the start of clinical trials to approval in the world s top drugs market That pace reflects an accelerated approval process at the FDA and AstraZeneca s determination to push development as fast as possible In fighting off Pfizer s approach last year Chief Executive Pascal Soriot had warned that the new cancer pill s progress could be disrupted by the distraction of a mega merger Mizuho Securities analyst Eric Criscuolo said the speedy FDA decision suggested a similarly early approval of Clovis rival drug rociletinib whose official FDA decision date is at the end of March Rociletinib could be right behind he said in a note AstraZeneca shares rose 0 5 percent in a weaker European stock market while Clovis was up 1 percent on Nasdaq In two clinical trials 57 and 61 percent of patients experienced a complete or partial reduction in their tumor size with the most common side effects being diarrhea and skin and fingernail problems
The green light for Tagrisso follows AstraZeneca s recent launch of Lynparza for ovarian cancer taking the company closer to its goal of bringing six new cancer treatments to market by 2020 |
AMD | AMD revenue forecast disappoints as crypto demand subsides shares plummet | By Arjun Panchadar
Reuters Advanced Micro Devices Inc O AMD on Wednesday forecast fourth quarter revenue below estimates as the chipmaker faces dwindling demand from cryptocurrency miners for its high margin graphic processors and excess inventory sending its shares down 22 percent
AMD shares which have more than doubled this year were trading at 17 84 after the bell
AMD and Nvidia its main rival in the gaming chip market were the biggest beneficiaries of a cryptocurrency boom last year as miners invested in new networks to keep up with demand
However with cryptocurrency prices in free fall mainly due to regulatory worries demand for the chips have declined
Graphic Processing Units like AMD s Radeon provide the high computing abilities required for cryptocurrency mining
Nvidia shares were down 2 5 percent at 194 98
AMD said it now expects revenue of about 1 45 billion plus or minus 50 million below analysts estimates of 1 6 billion according to Refinitiv data
The company said revenue from its graphics and computing business which sells Ryzen desktop processors and Radeon graphics cards rose 12 percent to 938 million in the third quarter
AMD said strong sales of Ryzen chips were partially offset by lower revenue from its graphics business where blockchain related GPU sales were negligible
In graphics the year over year revenue decrease was primarily driven by significantly lower channel GPU sales partially offset by improved OEM and data center GPU sales Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su said on a post earnings call
Channel GPU sales came in lower than expected based on excess channel inventory levels caused by the decline in blockchain related demand that was so strong earlier in the year she added
Su said the graphics and computing segment underperformed expectations by 100 million in the quarter and added that inventory levels for its graphics products remain high and may take a couple quarters to return to normal levels
The miss was due to GPU AMD had too high an exposure to the crypto currency market Additionally they do not have a competitive line up in the PC Gaming market Summit Insights Group analyst Kinngai Chan said
Sales in its enterprise embedded and semi custom unit which makes EPYC server processors fell 5 percent to 715 million
AMD said net income climbed to 102 million or 9 cents per share in the third quarter ended Sept 29 from 61 million or 6 cents per share a year earlier
Excluding items AMD earned 13 cents per share narrowly beating estimates
Revenue rose to 1 65 billion but missed estimates of 1 7 billion |
AMD | Bitcoin Other Cryptos Pare Back Gains | Investing com Cryptocurrency prices fell on Thursday as AMD said a decline in mining led to a sharp fall in revenue
Bitcoin fell 0 68 to 6 526 80 on the Bitfinex exchange as of 9 15 AM ET 13 15 GMT
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly lower with the total coin market capitalization at 209 billion at the time of writing compared to 210 billion on Wednesday Ethereum or Ether decreased 1 12 to 205 02 and Litecoin was at 52 811 down 1 53 while XRP dipped 1 49 to 0 46157
Meanwhile semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD reported a sharp decline in third quarter revenue to due a fall in equipment sales to cryptocurrency miners
The company said its revenue fell by 6 quarter over quarter prompting a selloff of its stock closing 9 17 lower on Wednesday
GPU sales came in lower than expected based on excess channel inventory levels caused by the decline in blockchain related demand that was so strong earlier in the year Lisa Su president and chief executive officer of AMD said in an earnings call with analysts
In other news a U S District Judge dismissed a lawsuit against Coinbase earlier this week
The suit filed by Arizona resident Jeffrey Berk in March against Coinbase accused the exchange of insider trading of Bitcoin cash prior to its listing on the exchange
The judge dismissed the case saying there was no legal basis for Berk s claims |
T | Final Game of Thrones season to air in first half of 2019 | By Lisa Richwine BEVERLY HILLS California Reuters HBO will debut the final season of its international hit Game of Thrones in the first half of next year and it aims to start production on a prequel in 2019 a network executive said on Wednesday Casey Bloys HBO s president of programming speaking at a Television Critics Association event declined to provide details on the eighth and final Game of Thrones season or to provide a more specific premiere date The Emmy winning medieval fantasy series is HBO s biggest hit ever with some 30 million viewers in the United States and an army of devoted fans worldwide HBO a unit of AT T Inc NYSE T also is in the process of searching for a director and cast for a Game of Thrones prequel Bloys said in response to questions He said he hopes the prequel pilot will begin filming next year The network announced in June that it had ordered the pilot and would proceed with a full series if the pilot goes well The as yet untitled prequel will take place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones It was created by British screenwriter Jane Goldman with author George R R Martin whose novel series A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the Game of Thrones television series It will chronicle the world s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour and look at the secrets of the history of the warring families in the fictional kingdom of Westeros the network has said HBO considered five different scripts before settling on the approach for the prequel The reason we did multiple scripts is out of five we d be lucky to get one we are very excited about Bloys said
The remaining four scripts are either dead or still in the works he said |
PFE | Can Pfizer PFE Prove To Be An Apt Value Investment | Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment After all who wouldn t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process Let s put Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value oriented investors right now or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks PE RatioA key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio or PE for short This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock s current PE ratio with a where this ratio has been in the past b how it compares to the average for the industry sector and c how it compares to the market as a whole On this front Pfizer has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 14 8 This level compares pretty favorably with the market at large as the PE ratio for the S P 500 comes in at about 20 4 If we focus on the long term trend of the stock the current level puts Pfizer s current PE above its median over the observed period which stands at 13 8x Hence we could infer that the stock is slightly overvalued in this respect especially in light of its historical trend Nevertheless the stock s PE compares favorably with its industry s trailing twelve months PE ratio which stands at 16 5 At the very least this indicates that the stock is relatively overvalued right now compared to its peers PS RatioAnother key metric to note is the Price Sales ratio This approach compares a given stock s price to its total sales where a lower reading is generally considered better Some people like this metric more than other value focused ones because it looks at sales something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings Right now Pfizer has a P S ratio of about 4 2 This is lower than the industry average which comes in at 4 6x right now PFE is actually in the higher zone of its trading range in the time period per the P S metric which suggests that the company s stock price has already appreciated to some degree relative to its sales Broad Value OutlookIn aggregate Pfizer currently has a Value Score of B putting it into the top 40 of all stocks we cover from this look This makes Pfizer an apt choice for value investors and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too For example the company s P B ratio used to compare a stock s market value to its book value stands at 3 6 lower than the industry average of 5 9 Additionally its P CF ratio another great indicator of value comes in at 10 5 which is far better than the industry average of 15 9 Clearly PFE is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles What About the Stock Overall Though Pfizer might be a good choice for value investors there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name In particular it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of C and a Momentum score of B This gives PFE a Zacks VGM score or its overarching fundamental grade of B You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores Meanwhile the company s earnings estimates have been mixed at best The current quarter has seen one estimate go higher in the past sixty days compared to four lower while the full year estimate has seen four upward revisions and one downward revision in the same time period This has had small impact on the consensus estimate though as the current quarter consensus estimate has remained constant over the past two months while the full year estimate has inched up 0 4 You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below Pfizer Inc Price and Consensus Pfizer has just a Zacks Rank 3 Hold which indicates that while analysts have some apprehensions about the stock in the immediate future the stock s growth story might be good over the long term Thus we are looking for in line performance from the company in the near term Bottom LinePfizer is an inspired choice for value investors as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front Moreover a strong industry rank Top 17 out of more than 250 industries further supports the growth potential of the stock In fact year to date the industry has clearly outperformed the broader market as you can see below Notably Pfizer has been working on strengthening its product portfolio through acquisitions and licensing deals However Pfizer continues to face headwinds in the form of genericization of key drugs lost alliance revenues pricing pressure and rising competition which is hurting the top line Though Pfizer s growing immuno oncology portfolio offers strong potential many of these assets are in early stage of development Nonetheless we believe that new products like Ibrance contribution from acquisitions cost cutting efforts and share buybacks should help the company achieve its guidance Pfizer also boasts a strong pipeline and expects approximately 25 to 30 drug approvals over the next five years including around 15 products that have blockbuster potential So despite a Zacks Rank 3 we believe that bullish analyst sentiment for the long term and favorable industry factors make this value stock a compelling pick Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars Here s another stock idea to consider Much like petroleum 150 years ago lithium power may soon shake the world creating millionaires and reshaping geo politics Soon electric vehicles EVs may be cheaper than gas guzzlers Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply one company stands out as the 1 stock to buy according to Zacks research It s not the one you think |
AMD | Stock Exchange Climbing The Wall Of Worry | The Stock Exchange is all about trading Each week we do the following
Discuss an important issue for traders
Highlight several technical trading methods including current ideas
Feature advice from top traders and writers and
Provide a few minority reactions from fundamental analysts
We also have some fun We welcome comments links and ideas to help us improve this resource for traders If you have some ideas please join in
Review Are You Missing The Big Picture
Our previous Stock Exchange asked the question Are You Missing The Big Picture We noted that with trading it s easy to get lost in the minutiae Specifically traders often get so caught up in the details of the day to day that they lose sight of the big picture
This Week Climbing The Wall Of Worry
Despite a non stop flow fear mongering from the media the market continues to climb the wall of worry For example we just hit fresh all time highs in the S P 500 and we just completed the best first half of the year in many years Charlie Bilello does a good job of summing up the market s strength in his recent tweet citing lots of strong data points as follows
Those are some fairly compelling data points and they come following lots of negativity and worry by many in the media Of course for some investors perhaps contrarians in particular the fact that the market has done so well lately provides more nervous fuel that we re due for a bit of a pullback
A question worth asking yourself Is your nest egg at the mercy of the stock market And to what extent
For example if you simply own an S P 500 index fund you re going to basically return whatever the stock market returns and that means if the market takes a nosedive then so too will your portfolio also take a nosedive
Historically the conventional wisdom has been to diversify some of your stock market risk away by owning high quality bonds But the problem with that strategy now is that with the 10 Year treasury again recently dipping below 2 so too have the yields on investment grade corporate bonds to the extent that their returns are just not very compelling to many investors
So what s an investor to do if they want to earn a return without being at the mercy of a rapidly climbing stock market that makes many investors nervous The market is up a lot this year but you only have to look back to the fourth quarter of last year to see how the market can turn ugly quickly And while the recover to that sell off was fairly quick it took considerably more time for the market to recover from a considerably larger pullback during the financial crisis which really wasn t that long ago to those of us that have been participating in the markets for a while
As one alternative solution there are many trading strategies that offer lower correlations with the overall stock market For example long short funds market neutral strategies and a variety of shorter term trading strategies too These alternative approaches can help diversify away some of that stock market risk that is keeping many investors awake at night while still offering the potential for compelling long term returns We ll discuss some specific examples of trades and trading strategies later in this report
Model Performance
We are sharing the performance of our proprietary trading models as our readers have requested
Worth noting our models increase and decrease their cash levels based on market conditions so the performance in the table can appear more dramatic than reality especially when considering the strategies are often combined with some of our longer term strategies as well Also we ve been running these models for a while and backtested the data for very long time periods and thereby understand there are stronger and less strong periods However over the long term we remain very confident in the trading models and continue to invest our own capital according to the models
For more information about our models and their specific trading processes click through at the bottom of this post for more information readers are additionally invited to write to main at newarc dot com for our free brief description of how we created the Stock Exchange models
Expert Picks From The Models
Note This week s Stock Exchange report is being moderated by Blue Harbinger a source for independent investment ideas
Holmes I know I am a computer model and not a person but I am going to brag this week I bought shares of AMD AMD on 6 18 and sold them on 7 1 for a healthy profit
Blue Harbinger A little anthropomorphic are we Holmes That is a nice trade Those chip stocks have been a little volatile lately with all the China trade talks going on I suppose that volatility is good for a dip buyer like you I think the semiconductor industry in general will do well over the long term considering all the smart device computing power Here is a look at the F A S T Graph with some fundamental data Holmes
Holmes There s more to it than simply calling me a dip buyer You re on the right track but more specifically I use a mean reversion approach to identify stocks that have moved abnormally far from their recent price history And AMD did and I also identified the additional conditions necessary for me to purchase
BH Nice trade Holmes And how about you Road Runner any trades to share this week
Road Runner I bought Square SQ this week How do you feel about that
BH Jeez Road Runner We were just talking earlier in this report about ways to place trades that are not highly correlated with the market Square is a very high beta around 2 0 depending on which time frame you look at fintech company If the market goes up so does Square And if the market goes down so does Square But in both cases Square s price moves are usually much more dramatic It s a fast grower but it s got a very high valuation and its not really profitable Here is a look at the F A S T Graph
RR Really You want to talk to me about beta That s a stat normally calculated over a 3 year time period I usually only hold for about 4 weeks So your beta and long term fundamental data are nice but really not all that useful to me Generally speaking I am a momentum trader and I like to buy stocks in the lower end of a rising channel as you can see in the Square chart below
And for your information I look for a certain type of situation some call it a pattern others may call it a setup etc where the probability of a particular action is not a matter of chance 50 50 but has been historically noted to result in a greater tendency towards a particular outcome Trending in a channel is one such situation Equity will often cycle between the upper and lower bounds of that channel for substantial periods of time My model design attempts to take advantage of this property by identifying stocks trending in an upwards channel and waiting until the stock price drifts to the lower bound making it a candidate for purchase These types of situations have a relatively high probability of positive outcome with reasonable profit potential Square can be seen to be in this type of situation This is a short term trade that has traditionally shown profitability when the right conditions have been met One way or another I ll be out of it shortly usually after about 4 weeks
BH Alrighty then Thank you And how about you Athena
Athena I sold my shares of Tableau Software DATA this week for a small loss after purchasing them in mid June As you recall I am a momentum trader
BH Sorry that trade didn t work out but at least it wasn t a disaster I actually like that business from a long term fundamental standpoint maybe you should have held on to it a little longer Here is a look at the F A S T Graph
Athena Thanks for your opinion but I ll stick to my strategy I look for stocks having strong positive trends and then select only those with the very strongest trends king of the hill constantly replacing the ones with weaker trends It should not surprise anyone that I bought Tableau A quick look at the chart makes the strength of the trend fairly obvious And I generally continue to hold my positions until either the strength of the trend abates or stock with an even higher trend strength comes along I don t have a set holding period for a position I will exit only when either a stronger stock comes along or if market conditions dictate a strong potential for loss capital preservation remains the key driver in all situations
Conclusion
With the market soaring this year and reaching new all time highs this week a lot of investors are increasingly nervous and the media s non stop fear mongering doesn t help If you re going to own stocks for the long term then to a large extent you are at the mercy of whatever the stock market does And the traditional alternative to stocks i e bonds is not all too appealing considering interest rates are so low again the 10 year Treasury fell below 2 again this week One alternative to reducing your stock market risk while still providing an opportunity for high returns is shorter term trading This can involve quickly getting in and out of the market based on specific set ups and opportunities This prevents you from being exposed to the overall stock market beta risks all the time and still creates opportunities to generate attractive returns |
T | Analysts Estimate AT T T To Report A Decline In Earnings What To Look Out For | Wall Street expects a year over year decline in earnings on higher revenues when AT T T reports results for the quarter ended June 2019 While this widely known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company s earnings picture a powerful factor that could impact its near term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report which is expected to be released on July 24 On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call it s worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This telecommunications company is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 90 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 1 1
Revenues are expected to be 44 96 billion up 15 3 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0 13 lower over the last 30 days to the current level This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change
Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company s earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out Our proprietary surprise prediction model the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction has this insight at its core
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
Thus a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate However the model s predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and or Zacks Rank of 4 Sell or 5 Strong Sell
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for AT T
For AT T the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company s earnings prospects This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 1 15
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that AT T will beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating their estimates for its future earnings So it s worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number
For the last reported quarter it was expected that AT T would post earnings of 0 85 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 86 delivering a surprise of 1 18
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times
Bottom Line
An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors Similarly unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss
That said betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success This is why it s worth checking a company s Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they ve reported
AT T doesn t appear a compelling earnings beat candidate However investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release |
PFE | Why Did Pfizer PFE Stock Pop Today | Shares of Pfizer NYSE PFE and Astellas Pharma OTC ALPMY moved higher in morning trading Thursday after the companies said their new prostate cancer drug Xtandi met the main goal of an important clinical trial
Xtandi is actually already approved to treat metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer CRPC but today s results showed statistically significant improvement in the survival rate of men with non metastatic CRPC
Many prostate cancer patients who initiate androgen deprivation therapy will experience disease progression illustrated by a rising PSA level and currently there are no FDA approved treatment options for patients with non metastatic CRPC until they develop confirmed radiographic metastatic disease said Carolina Urologic Research Center director Neal Shore M D
If Xtandi is approved to treat non metastatic CRPC it will create a brand new revenue channel for Pfizer The drug was added to the pharma giant s portfolio through the company s 14 billion acquisition of Medivation last year
With its current approvals Xtandi witnessed U S sales of about 141 million in Pfizer s most recent quarter Astellas Pharma which is based in Japan owns the rights to distribute the drug outside of the United States
Pfizer shares surged more than 1 8 in early morning trading hitting an intraday high of 35 74 per share in the process Shares of Astellas gained as much as 2 to touch an intraday high of 12 90
PFE has now gained more than 6 in the past four weeks which has helped the stock earn an A grade for Momentum in our Style Scores system
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New Report An Investor s Guide to Cybersecurity
Cyberattacks have become more frequent and destructive than ever In fact they re expected to cause 6 trillion per year in damage by 2020 The cybersecurity industry is expanding quickly in response to these threats and a projected 170 billion per year will be spent to protect consumer and corporate assets
Zacks has just released Cybersecurity An Investor s Guide to Locking Down Profits which reveals 4 promising investment candidates |
PFE | Allergan says in talks on merger with Pfizer | By Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson Reuters Botox maker Allergan N AGN pa Plc on Thursday said it was in preliminary friendly talks with Pfizer Inc N PFE on a potential merger a deal that would create the world s largest drugmaker Ireland based Allergan said there was no certainty the talks would lead to a deal and did not discuss the terms that might lead to a tie up with Pfizer Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Ian Read earlier Thursday said he was open to any moves that produce the best long term value for the company but declined to directly comment on reports of talks with Allergan Speaking at a Wall Street Journal event Read said he was looking at various growth strategies including a deal if that would add value to shareholders
Or we could sit tight or we could do a split Or we could do a business development deal and then do a split whatever produces the best long term value Read said |
T | U S proposes expedited appeal in fight with AT T over Time Warner purchase | WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Justice Department has proposed an expedited schedule for an appeal of a judge s ruling that allowed AT T Inc N T to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner according to a court filing on Wednesday The department said last Thursday that it would appeal a federal judge s approval of the 85 4 billion acquisition AT T which owns pay TV company DirecTV said it did not oppose the expedited schedule The Justice Department filing seeks briefs to be completed by Oct 18 with oral arguments as soon as practicable That would be a significantly faster than normal timetable for an appeals court to hear a case In approving the merger the district court rejected fundamental principles of economics creating uncertainty that will have an outsized effect on vertical merger analysis the Justice Department said in its filing A vertical transaction is when a company merges with a supplier The United States therefore brings this appeal and seeks a swift correction of the district court s errors the filing said AT T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said last week that the company would win the appeal We think the likelihood of this thing being reversed or overturned is really remote The Justice Department sued AT T in November asking a court to stop its purchase of Time Warner saying the deal would lead to higher prices for consumers The merger announced in October 2016 was also opposed by President Donald Trump But U S District Judge Richard Leon said last month it was legal and allowed it to move forward The merger closed on June 14 After the ruling the Justice Department did not attempt to prevent the companies from closing the merger in June after AT T said in a letter that it would manage Time Warner s Turner cable television networks as part of a separate business unit until either February 2019 or the conclusion of the government s appeal Since winning in court AT T has raised the price for wireless customers with some unlimited data plans by 5 a month and informed customers it was increasing the price of its internet streaming service DirecTV Now by 5 a month |
T | Exclusive Britain says Huawei shortcomings expose new telecom networks risks | By Jack Stubbs LONDON Reuters Technical and supply chain issues with equipment made by Chinese firm Huawei have exposed Britain s telecom networks to new security risks a government report said on Thursday The assessment made in a report signed off by Britain s GCHQ spy agency will intensify the espionage debate around Huawei Technologies HWT UL which has come under increasing fire in the United States and Australia over concerns it could facilitate Chinese government spying The report was released after sources told Reuters that senior British security officials say they can now give only limited assurances that Huawei s UK operations pose no threat to national security downgrading their previous position Identification of shortcomings in Huawei s engineering processes have exposed new risks in the UK telecommunication networks and long term challenges in mitigation and management officials said in the report Huawei the world s biggest producer of telecoms equipment said that it welcomed the thrust of the report by the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre HCSEC oversight board which it said showed supervision by British authorities was working well The report concludes that HCSEC s operational independence is both robust and effective The Oversight Board has identified some areas for improvement in our engineering processes a Huawei spokesman said We are grateful for this feedback and are committed to addressing these issues Cyber security remains Huawei s top priority and we will continue to actively improve our engineering processes and risk management systems Huawei says no inspection has ever found any backdoor vulnerabilities in its equipment It says it is a private company not under Chinese government control and not subject to Chinese security laws overseas CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Huawei is a major supplier of broadband gear and mobile networks in Britain meaning its products are used in critical national infrastructure which could be targeted by foreign adversaries London says it effectively addresses security issues by having all Huawei products reviewed by staff at a special company laboratory overseen by British government and intelligence officials The laboratory known as HCSEC was set up by Huawei in 2010 in response to British government concerns about possible security threats to national infrastructure British security officials including from GCHQ sit on its oversight board and report annually on its work But for the first time Thursday s report by the oversight board reduced the level of security assurance it said was provided by HCSEC Officials said HCSEC provided unique world class cyber security expertise and technical assurance but also that they had identified technical issues which limited security researchers ability to check internal product code There were also concerns about the security of components from outside suppliers which are used in Huawei products the report said A spokesman for Britain s National Cyber Security Centre which is part of Government Communications Headquarters GCHQ said a program to resolve the code issue was underway and should be completed by mid 2020 HCSEC is discussing questions about the use of third party software with Huawei he added with the aim of finding a strategic fix for the problem This government and British telecoms operators work with Huawei at home and abroad to ensure the UK can continue to benefit from new technology while managing cyber security risks he said BIG CHANGE Previous oversight board reports published in each of the last three years concluded that HCSEC provided assurance that any risks to UK national security from Huawei s involvement in the UK s critical networks have been sufficiently mitigated A person with direct knowledge of Huawei s work with the British government said the new assessment that HCSEC could now only provide limited assurance was a big change though understated Huawei has been deepening ties in Britain over the last decade and now supplies broadband equipment to the country s largest telecoms provider BT Group L BT and mobile networks for wireless giant Vodafone Group L VOD It is also a major supplier to other European telecom carriers including Deutsche Telekom DE DTEGn and Telefonica MC TEF BT its operating subsidiaries and Vodafone were not immediately available to comment on Thursday s report Huawei employs 1 500 people in Britain and in February pledged to spend a further 3 billion pounds 4 01 billion in Britain following a high profile meeting between chairwoman Sun Yafang and British Prime Minister Theresa May That is in stark contrast to the United States where lawmakers have stepped up efforts to bar Huawei equipment from the country s networks Huawei has also been thwarted in its efforts to establish its U S mobile handset business The largest U S consumer electronics retailer Best Buy has stopped stocking Huawei products and a potential breakthrough deal with U S carrier AT T Inc N T collapsed in January
Australia is also preparing to ban Huawei from supplying equipment for its planned 5G broadband network two sources told Reuters last week after its intelligence agencies raised concerns that Beijing could force the company to hand over sensitive data |
T | U S court OKs speedy appeal of AT T Time Warner tie up | WASHINGTON Reuters A federal appeals court on Thursday approved the U S Justice Department s request for an expedited schedule for an appeal of a judge s ruling that allowed AT T Inc N T to buy content provider Time Warner The department said last Thursday that it would appeal a federal judge s approval of the 85 4 billion acquisition The court approved the Justice Department request that legal briefs must be completed by Oct 18 with oral arguments as soon as practicable That would be a significantly faster than normal timetable for an appeals court to hear a case The Justice Department said on Wednesday in requesting the expedited schedule that AT T which owns DirecTV could use Time Warner s Turner content especially live sports and news to raise the costs of smaller rival pay TV companies The merged firm will have the incentive and the ability to raise its rivals costs and stifle growth of innovative next generation entrants the department said in the filing Essentially they argued AT T could push smaller pay TV companies to pay more for Turner s CNN and sports programming increases that would be passed on to U S consumers They also argued that withholding Turner content from online distributors such as Hulu would stunt the development of cheaper online video The Justice Department said this week that District Court Judge Richard Leon rejected fundamental principles of economics in his decision to rule for the companies Leon had called one of the government s arguments against the deal gossamer thin and another poppycock Under an agreement with the Justice Department the companies closed the deal in June
One of the many people who are skeptical that the government will prevail is AT T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson who said last week that the original court decision was well reasoned We think the likelihood of this thing being reversed or overturned is really remote he said |
T | Mystery surrounds Chris Pine return to Wonder Woman film series | By Lisa Richwine SAN DIEGO Reuters Actor Chris Pine surprised superhero fans with an appearance alongside Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot on Saturday but offered no explanation for how he will return to the film franchise following his character s fiery death in the last movie At San Diego Comic Con Pine joined Gadot and director Patty Jenkins in a packed 6 500 seat convention hall to talk about Wonder Woman 1984 which began filming three weeks ago I am actually not really here right now Pine quipped when asked by moderator Aisha Tyler how he will re emerge on the screen I m just an aura of emotional support for my pals Pine played World War I pilot Steve Trevor in 2017 blockbuster movie Wonder Woman At the end of the film Trevor sacrifices himself for the greater good and appears to die as his plane explodes Jenkins who had tweeted a photo of Pine on the 1984 set in June also was vague about his role on Saturday What is he back here for It s something I m super excited for everybody to see the movie find out she said It s a very important part of our movie The hugely successful Wonder Woman was a bright spot for Warner Bros DC Comics movies which have earned mixed reviews from critics and failed to match the box office success of films from Walt Disney Co s Marvel Studios Wonder Woman grossed 821 8 million worldwide In early 1984 footage shown to the crowd Wonder Woman lassos two bad guys and saves a child during a battle in a shopping mall food court The movie is scheduled to reach theaters in November 2019 Gadot said 1984 was not a traditional sequel It s its own story It s a different story she said Warner Bros a unit of AT T Inc NYSE T also unveiled the first trailer for superhero movie Aquaman which is due in theaters in December The footage showed glimpses of a brightly colored underwater world that is in peril due to conflicts with surface dwellers Jason Momoa plays the title character a reluctant king forced to battle his brother Director James Wan known for Furious 7 and The Conjuring movies said he wanted to give Aquaman a different feel than other superhero movies filling up screens
My movie in some ways plays more like a science fiction fantasy film than a traditional superhero movie he said |
T | Wand waving Johnny Depp appears as Fantastic Beasts character | By Lisa Richwine SAN DIEGO Reuters Actor Johnny Depp gave Harry Potter fans a look at his coming portrayal of the pale and disheveled villain Grindelwald delivering a monologue in character to a cheering audience at San Diego Comic Con on Saturday Depp surprised the crowd of science fiction and pop culture fans by stepping out of the darkness with blonde hair and in full costume drawing applause from 6 500 fans in a cavernous convention hall The great gift of your applause is not for me but for yourselves Depp said in his character s English accent as he waved a magic wand over the crowd Depp s appearance followed a panel discussion with Eddie Redmayne Jude Law and other stars of upcoming movie Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald the second movie in a five part spinoff of the beloved Harry Potter films In his on stage speech Depp as Grindelwald explained the character s view of Muggles the ordinary humans without magical powers I do not hate them he said I say the Muggles are not lesser not worthless but of other value Magic blooms only in rare souls The moment has come to rise up and take our rightful place in the world he added Depp did not participate in the panel discussion and did not take questions following his appearance Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald written by Harry Potter author J K Rowling is scheduled to debut in theaters in November The movie from AT T NYSE T Inc s Warner Bros studio stars Redmayne as magizoologist Newt Scamander and Law as a young Dumbledore the headmaster of the Hogwarts boarding school where Harry Potter and his friends learned to become wizards Rowling has said she thinks of the younger Dumbledore as a gay man who fell in love with Gellert Grindelwald who later turned out to be evil and violent Law said the new movie may be the darkest look into the world created by Rowling
The wizards within the wizarding world are suddenly asked what side they are on what side they choose to join he said Everything is at stake |
PFE | 3 Alternative Mutual Funds To Ride Out A Spooky September | Though President Trump s support toward the extension of the debt limit deadline might have helped stocks book modest gains on Sep 6 a slew of headwinds will continue to spook investors in the month of September Investors are expected to grapple with issues pertaining to North Korea The rogue nations testing of its deadliest ballistic missile had sent shockwaves through Wall Street while drawing widespread rebuke from across the globe A potential catastrophic hurricane Irma and persistent worries about elevated stock valuations also raise concerns for investors A record number of fund managers see the U S market as the most overvalued in the world Among the 20 valuation metrics tracked by Ned Davis Research 16 of them indicate that the U S stocks are extremely overvalued As if all this wasn t enough September is historically the worst month for the stock market Weighing all the cons alternative mutual funds seem to be the best way out for investors Such funds are known for their potential to hedge risks provide unwavering returns particularly in difficult times and a diversified portfolio What Are Alternative Mutual Funds These funds mostly include long short equity funds market neutral funds and trading leveraged equity funds These types of funds are available to investors of all income groups Let us now discuss the three types of funds in some Mutual FundsEquity long short funds seek to gain from both winning and losing stocks irrespective of the market scenario These funds use conventional methods to identify stocks that are either undervalued or overvalued It profits from shorting the overvalued stocks and buying the undervalued ones Weights are subject to change and are dependent on management s view on the market For example Say an investor buys a long short mutual fund for 100 then the fund manager will invest it in assets that are expected to fare well The manager shorts 30 in stocks that are believed to be overvalued In the process he receives 30 in cash He will now use the 30 to buy more assets with an upside potential Thus now he has a total of 130 invested in long positions and 30 in short positions This type of long short fund is called a 130 30 mutual fund Market Neutral Mutual FundsMarket neutral funds aim to adopt a precision approach by shorting 50 of their assets and holding 50 long This approach seeks to identify pairs of assets that have related price movements The fund goes long on the outperforming asset and shorts the underperformer For instance you take a 1 million long position in Pfizer NYSE PFE and a 1 million short position in Wyeth both of which are large pharmaceutical companies Now if pharmaceutical stocks fall you will lose because of your long position in Pfizer but will gain because of the short position in Wyeth A market neutral fund is designed to provide stable returns at relatively lower levels of risk regardless of market direction This is particularly relevant in today s highly volatile scenario when the objective is to protect the capital invested Trading Leveraged Equity FundsLeveraged funds use borrowed money to increase returns in a short spell of time These funds generally strive to return a certain multiple of the short term returns of an equity index For example a 2X S P 500 fund aims to generate twice the returns that the S P 500 manages to achieve Leveraged funds are primarily marked ultra bull or 2X Leveraged funds also offer benefits such as diversification These funds invest in a diversified portfolio of assets which minimize risk while escalating returns In addition to this investors enjoy the benefits of dollar cost averaging where a young investor depositing 10 000 in these funds reaps the same benefits that a high net worth individual receives say by depositing 50 000 000 These funds also enjoy tax deductions 3 Alternative Mutual Funds to Buy NowThe investment community is a dynamic one where new products will come into play and make the most of the stock market In times of market uncertainty alternative mutual funds are such new product classes that are equipped to protect investors portfolio and provide steady returns Here we have selected three such alternative mutual funds that boast a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank 1 Strong Buy or 2 Buy have positive 3 year and 5 year annualized returns and carry a low expense ratio Aberdeen Equity Long Short A invests a large portion of its assets in long and short positions in equity securities of publicly traded companies in the United States MLSAX s 1 year and 5 year annualized returns are 7 and 3 9 respectively Annual expense ratio of 1 59 is below the category average of 1 91 The fund has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank 2 Calamos Market Neutral Income A invests mainly in convertible securities and employs short selling to enhance income and hedge against market risk CVSIX s 1 year and 5 year annualized returns are 4 5 and 3 4 respectively Annual expense ratio of 1 08 is lower than the category average of 1 71 The fund has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank 1 ProFunds Internet UltraSector Investor seeks daily investment results before fees and expenses that correspond to one and one half times the daily performance of the Dow Jones Internet CompositeSM Index INPIX s 1 year and 5 year annualized returns are almost 40 and 31 2 respectively Annual expense ratio of 1 5 is lower than the category average of 1 98 The fund has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank 1 Want key mutual fund info delivered straight to your inbox Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis as well as top performing mutual funds each week |
AMD | 6 Stocks To Watch AMD CRON CRSP IOVA PRVB SOLY | Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD
Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD was ready to break out around the 28 29 area I said your target is 33 34 It was up 82 cents or 2 5 to 33 23 on 98 million shares on Monday and reached a high of 34 30 The next target is 36 3 4 and 40
Cronos Group Inc CRON
Cronos Group Inc NASDAQ CRON TSX CRON jumped 1 45 or 8 to 17 39 on 9 6 million shares on Monday I put a new swing on it on Monday because it went through the 50 day moving average and decline topsline If it will follow through at 17 70 or thereabouts then I m looking for 19 22 and 25
CRISPR Therapeutics AG CRSP
Crispr Therapeutics AG NASDAQ CRSP a swing trade of ours is looking good It gained 1 50 or 3 5 to 44 38 on 1 million shares I like the look here I think it came through the neckline of the inverse head and shoulders on Monday There s a little resistance at 471 4 1 2 but if it gets through there 54 is the next target
Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc IOVA
Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc NASDAQ IOVA had a beautiful follow through on Monday up another 82 cents or 4 4 to 19 93 on 2 8 million shares and reached a high of 20 75 That s a new multi year high for this stock going all the way back 2013 That s a new 6 year high It might accelerate If it does look for something in the mid 20 s
Provention Bio Inc PRVB
Provention Bio Inc NASDAQ PRVB exploded on Monday on major news backed way off and then came on again closing up 9 44 or 217 to 13 79 on 26 million shares That s huge I don t think it will get below the gap at 9 44 and I m looking for support at 9 75 10 a retest at 18 23 and then we ll see what s next
Soliton Inc SOLY
Soliton Inc NASDAQ SOLY may be coming out of a falling wedge It reversed Friday followed through on Monday and gained 1 70 or 10 to 17 90 on a million shares It looks like it needs more volume My short term target is 201 2 22 and then we ll see if it will get higher than that
Stocks on the long side
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD Amyris Inc AMRS Beyond Meat Inc BYND Cronos Group Inc CRON CRISPR Therapeutics AG CRSP Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc CVRS Daqo New Energy Corp DQ Endologix Inc ELGX Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc IOVA JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd JKS Kodiak Sciences Inc KOD PaySign Inc PAYS Provention Bio Inc PRVB Qudian Inc QD Soliton Inc SOLY ShockWave Medical Inc SWAV Upland Software Inc UPLD USA Technologies Inc USAT and Vivint Solar Inc VSLR
Watch video here |
AMD | Chart Alert Double Top Advanced Micro Devices | While average investors were clamoring to buy shares of Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD over the last few days pro traders noted a major double top on the chart This signaled a coming pullback which has already begun Advanced Micro Devices topped out near 34 25 which matched the high pivot from September 13th 2018 This was the double top The stock has already pulled back to 32 and will head to a target of 29 75 before completing its downward near term move |
T | Can AT T T Keep The Earnings Surprise Streak Alive | Have you been searching for a stock that might be well positioned to maintain its earnings beat streak in its upcoming report It is worth considering AT T T which belongs to the Zacks Wireless National industry
When looking at the last two reports this telecommunications company has recorded a strong streak of surpassing earnings estimates The company has topped estimates by 1 18 on average in the last two quarters
For the last reported quarter AT T came out with earnings of 0 86 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0 85 per share representing a surprise of 1 18 For the previous quarter the company was expected to post earnings of 0 85 per share and it actually produced earnings of 0 86 per share delivering a surprise of 1 18
Price and EPS Surprise
With this earnings history in mind recent estimates have been moving higher for AT T In fact the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction for the company is positive which is a great sign of an earnings beat especially when you combine this metric with its nice Zacks Rank
Our research shows that stocks with the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank 3 Hold or better produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time In other words if you have 10 stocks with this combination the number of stocks that beat the consensus estimate could be as high as seven
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter the Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
AT T currently has an Earnings ESP of 1 64 which suggests that analysts have recently become bullish on the company s earnings prospects This positive Earnings ESP when combined with the stock s Zacks Rank 3 Hold indicates that another beat is possibly around the corner We expect the company s next earnings report to be released on July 24 2019
With the Earnings ESP metric it s important to note that a negative value reduces its predictive power however a negative Earnings ESP does not indicate an earnings miss
Many companies end up beating the consensus EPS estimate though this is not the only reason why their shares gain Additionally some stocks may remain stable even if they end up missing the consensus estimate
Because of this it s really important to check a company s Earnings ESP ahead of its quarterly release to increase the odds of success Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they ve reported |
T | AT T T Stock Moves 0 15 What You Should Know | AT T T closed at 34 25 in the latest trading session marking a 0 15 move from the prior day This move was narrower than the S P 500 s daily loss of 0 48 At the same time the Dow lost 0 43 and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0 78
Coming into today shares of the telecommunications company had gained 6 85 in the past month In that same time the Computer and Technology sector gained 8 while the S P 500 gained 5 97
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release which is expected to be July 24 2019 The company is expected to report EPS of 0 90 down 1 1 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 45 02 billion up 15 48 from the prior year quarter
For the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of 3 58 per share and revenue of 183 33 billion which would represent changes of 1 7 and 7 36 respectively from the prior year
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for T These revisions typically reflect the latest short term business trends which can change frequently As such positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company s business and profitability
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near term share price momentum Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
In terms of valuation T is currently trading at a Forward P E ratio of 9 57 Its industry sports an average Forward P E of 15 69 so we one might conclude that T is trading at a discount comparatively
It is also worth noting that T currently has a PEG ratio of 2 14 The PEG ratio is similar to the widely used P E ratio but this metric also takes the company s expected earnings growth rate into account Wireless National stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 2 14 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75 which puts it in the top 30 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow T in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
PFE | Historic Pacific trade deal faces skeptics in U S Congress | By Krista Hughes and Kevin Krolicki ATLANTA Reuters Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 percent of the world s economy in a deal that faces skepticism from U S lawmakers The Trans Pacific Partnership TPP pact struck in Atlanta after marathon talks could reshape industries change the cost of products from cheese to cancer treatments and have repercussions for drug companies and automakers Tired negotiators worked round the clock over the weekend to settle tough issues such as monopoly rights for new biotech drugs New Zealand s demand for greater access for its dairy exports was only settled at 5 a m EDT 0900 GMT on Monday If approved the pact would cut trade barriers and set common standards from Vietnam to Canada It would also furnish a legacy shaping victory for U S President Barack Obama who will promote the agreement on Tuesday in remarks to business leaders in Washington The Obama administration hopes the pact will help the United States increase its influence in East Asia and help counter the rise of China which is not one of the TPP nations Lawmakers in the United States and other TPP countries must approve the deal Five years in the making it would reduce or eliminate tariffs on almost 18 000 categories of goods Initial reaction from U S Congress members including Democrats and Republicans ranged from cautious to skeptical Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders a Democratic presidential candidate warned the pact would cost jobs and hurt consumers In the Senate I will do all that I can to defeat the TPP agreement he tweeted Many of Obama s Democrats as well as labor groups fear the TPP will cost manufacturing jobs and weaken environmental laws while some Republicans oppose provisions to block tobacco companies from suing governments over anti smoking measures Republican Senator Orrin Hatch who heads the Senate Finance Committee was wary I am afraid this deal appears to fall woefully short said Hatch who had urged the administration to hold the line on intellectual property protections including for drugs U S lawmakers can approve the deal or vote it down but not amend it CURRENCY DRUGS DAIRY AUTO POLICIES Ministers said the agreement would include a forum for finance ministers from participating countries to discuss currency policy principles This takes into account in part concerns among U S manufacturers and critics who suggest Japan has driven the yen lower to benefit its car exporters and other companies But Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell from Michigan home of the U S auto industry said currency has not been fully dealt with Nothing that we have heard indicates negotiators sufficiently addressed these issues she said The United States and Australia negotiated a compromise on the minimum period of protection to the rights for data used to make biologic drugs Companies such as Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE Roche Group s Genentech and Japan s Takeda Pharmaceutical could be affected The agreed terms fell short of what the United States had sought Under the deal countries would give drugmakers at least five years exclusive access to clinical data used to win approval for new drugs An additional period of regulatory review would likely mean drug companies would have an effective monopoly for about eight years before facing lower cost generic competition Politically charged dairy farming issues were addressed in the final hours of talks New Zealand home to the world s biggest dairy exporter Fonterra wanted increased access to U S Canadian and Japanese markets New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the deal would cut tariffs on 93 percent of New Zealand s exports to the United States Japan Canada Mexico and Peru We re disappointed there wasn t agreement to eliminate all dairy tariffs but overall it s a very good deal for New Zealand Key said The United States Mexico Canada and Japan agreed to auto trade rules on how much of a vehicle must be made within the TPP region to qualify for duty free status The TPP would give Japan s automakers led by Toyota MotorCorp a freer hand to buy parts from Asia for vehicles sold in the United States but sets 25 30 year phase out periods for U S tariffs on Japanese cars and light trucks The deal between Australia Brunei Canada Chile Japan Malaysia Mexico New Zealand Peru Singapore the United States and Vietnam also sets minimum standards on issues ranging from workers rights to environmental protection Trade ministers said the TPP would in future be open to other countries including potentially China There is a real opportunity for China to be a part of this Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said
Though Obama painted the deal in part as a way of stopping China from writing the rules of the global economy China s Ministry of Commerce broadly welcomed the agreement in the hope it would promote and make common contributions to Asia Pacific trade investment and economic development |
PFE | Lilly pill trumps Humira in arthritis study | Reuters Eli Lilly and Co s experimental pill for rheumatoid arthritis proved superior to Abbvie Inc s leading injectable Humira treatment in a large study which analysts said could prod them to raise sales forecasts for the medicine
Lilly said on Wednesday it was the first study to show that a once daily oral treatment was superior to 13 billion a year Humira the world s best selling drug in improving signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
It was the fourth successful late stage trial for Lilly s medicine called baricitinib which it is developing in partnership with Incyte Corp
What is disclosed is quite impressive about as good an outcome as Lilly could hope for Sanford Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson said in a research note
Baricitinib works through a similar mechanism as Pfizer Inc N PFE s approved twice daily Xeljanz pill for rheumatoid arthritis by blocking proteins called Janus kinases that cause inflammation Xeljanz with annual sales of 500 million has not yet become the blockbuster product Wall Street had hoped when it was approved in 2012
If approved baricitinib could achieve annual sales of 831 million by 2020 Anderson said adding he may raise his forecast as more data is made public Incyte would collect a royalty of about 20 percent on sales he added
Baricitinib met its primary goal in the latest study by proving superior to placebo after 12 weeks as judged by its ability to produce at least a 20 percent improvement in disease severity
In another arm of the trial baricitinib at 12 weeks was superior to Humira on key secondary objectives related to the number of patients achieving at least 20 percent improvement as well as in improvement based upon another standard arthritis measure called a DAS28 hsCRP score
Moreover after 24 weeks of treatment baricitinib was shown to be better than placebo at preventing further structural joint damage Lilly said
Treatment benefits on all measures continued through a full year of therapy Lilly said Lilly plans to release full data at a November scientific meeting
Analysts said more data is needed including how many patients achieved 50 percent or 70 percent reductions in disease severity
The number of serious side effects seen with baricitinib were similar to placebo while those taking Humira had fewer side effects than placebo Serious infection rates were similar in all patient groups Lilly said
Shares of Lilly were down 0 3 percent in morning trading while those of Incyte rose 5 percent |
T | Stocks commodities regain footing after slump | By Marc Jones
LONDON Reuters Stocks and commodity markets regained some poise on Thursday having suffered wild tailspins in the previous session as the United States ratcheted up trade war threats on China
A 2 percent rebound on China s big bourses SS steadied Asian nerves as oil markets clawed back some of Wednesday s 7 percent slump that had marked their worst day in 2 1 2 years
Beaten up industrial metals including copper and nickel and European stocks pulled higher too in early trade EU while there was some relief for Turkish markets after the lira had been dumped to a record low by interest rate cut talk from its re elected President Tayyip Erdogan IS
The dollar meanwhile rose to a six month high against the Japanese yen after U S inflation data that bolstered the case for more Federal Reserve rate hikes this year
It mostly seems to be relief after the all red risk off day yesterday said Rabobank strategist Bas Van Geffen
The basis for this is not entirely clear to me though because it doesn t seem like this U S threats of another 200 of China trade tariffs has actually restarted negotiations with China In fact I would argue that it has made the risk of an accident or an unwanted outcome bigger
Europe s moves were less pronounced than Asia s had been perhaps reflecting that caution
The Shanghai Composite and blue chip CSI300 indexes had both ended the day up 2 2 percent Shares in Japan T Australia and Hong Kong closed 1 1 1 and 0 6 percent higher respectively
The pan European STOXX 600 inched up just 0 2 percent though with gains in the healthcare and consumer sectors offset by losses in the banking sector and in energy firms after the dramatic drop in oil prices
Germany s 10 year bond yield and the euro were both broadly steady with traders awaiting minutes from the most recent European Central Bank meeting A Reuters report showed its policymakers remain split on when to raise interest rates next year
The difference between 10 year U S Treasuries and equivalent German Bund yields stood near 30 year highs at 2 59 percent
If stocks drop sharply then the Fed will pause and moreover we think the U S is toward the end of its rate hike cycle said Thu Lan Nguyen an FX analyst at Commerzbank DE CBKG in Frankfurt
CAUTION FRAGILE CHINA
Focus was still on what the next steps in the tit for tat trade conflict might be China has accused the United States of bullying and warned it could hit back although the form of retaliation is not yet clear
The retaliatory options available to China include boycotting American goods sharply devaluing the yuan and selling off U S Treasury holdings Xiao Minjie senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo wrote in a note
China s yuan had strengthened 0 3 percent overnight though partially recovering from a big slide the previous day after an official currency market level set by the People s Bank of China was not as weak as some had feared
It shows the central bank intends to stabilize the market and calm investors One way speculation on the yuan s depreciation is not in Chinese authorities interests said Qi Gao Asia FX strategist at Scotiabank in Singapore
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was steady at 94 700 after gaining 0 6 percent overnight
Against the yen which usually strengthens in times of political tension and market turmoil the greenback stretched its overnight rally and rose to 112 385 yen its highest since January
Commodity linked currencies such as the Australian dollar crawled higher having suffered deep losses on Wednesday The Canadian dollar was also shade higher at C 1 3201 per dollar following a loss of 0 75 percent the previous day
In commodities there was also stabilization
Brent crude futures rose 1 5 percent to 74 52 a barrel after tanking 6 9 percent on Wednesday after the trade tensions and signs Libya s oil exports could pick up again triggered the biggest one day percentage drop since February 2016
Metals were recovering from their own 2 4 percent meltdown too Copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0 8 percent to 6 194 00 a ton The industrial metal sank nearly 3 percent on Wednesday plumbing a one year low of 6 081 00 |
T | Justice Department to appeal approval of AT T acquisition of Time Warner | By David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters The U S Justice Department said on Thursday it would appeal a federal judge s approval of AT T Inc s N T 85 4 billion acquisition of Time Warner raising the prospect barely a month after the deal closed that it could be undone AT T was sued by the Justice Department on antitrust grounds saying that the deal would harm consumers but U S District Judge Richard Leon last month approved the deal allowing it to move forward following a lengthy trial The merger first announced in October 2016 was also opposed by President Donald Trump Leon ruled that the tie up between AT T s wireless and satellite businesses with Time Warner s movies and television shows was legal under antitrust law AT T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told reporters on Thursday at a conference in Sun Valley Idaho that the company was not surprised about the Justice Department s decision to appeal They have the right to appeal Everyone has the right to appeal We have a very fact based thoughtful order It will be evaluated on those grounds he said A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment The Justice Department opted in June not to seek an immediate stay of the court s approval of the merger allowing the deal to close on June 14 The Justice Department still had 60 days however to appeal the decision approving the merger The government s notice of appeal filed in U S District Court in Washington did not disclose on what grounds it intends to challenge the approval Michael Carrier an antitrust expert at Rutgers University said the Justice Department could challenge Leon s analysis of the facts of the case the economic arguments given or what Carrier described as an apparent pro defendant approach by the judge Leon had sharply urged the Justice Department not to seek a stay of his ruling saying it would be manifestly unjust to do so and not likely to succeed In his ruling he said the government had failed to show competitive harm AT T told the Justice Department in a June 14 letter that it would manage Time Warner s Turner cable television networks as part of a separate business unit and take other steps until February 2019 or until any government appeal AT T also said that in the short term it would have no role in setting Turner prices and the number of Turner employees and target compensation and benefits would remain largely unchanged AT T also said it would implement a firewall between Turner and AT T to prevent the exchange of sensitive information of unaffiliated programmers or distributors In 2016 the Justice Department had demanded that AT T sell the Turner networks which include CNN as part of approving the merger John Bergmayer senior counsel at advocacy group Public Knowledge said that since the deal was approved AT T had raised prices for some video and wireless services The AT T Time Warner transaction is a bad deal for consumers and competition he said Judge Leon s decision contained numerous errors and we believe the DOJ s position should be vindicated Deals approved by a federal judge have been undone on appeal in the past
In 2001 H J Heinz Co called off its acquisition of Beech Nut after an appeals court overturned a lower court s decision to allow the merger The Federal Trade Commission had argued the deal would have merged the No 2 and No 3 baby food makers and that competition would be lessened substantially if it were to go forward |
PFE | Strength Seen In Catalent CTLT Stock Soars 13 9 | Catalent Inc NYSE CTLT was a big mover last session as the company saw its shares rise almost 14 on the day The move came on solid volume too with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session The stock picked up sharply from the near flat trend of 33 75 to 35 68 in the past one month time frame The move came after the company reported solid fourth quarter fiscal 2017 results Also management revealed that it has inked a long term supply agreement to make the next generation of Pfizer NYSE PFE s over the counter pain relief along with the launch of Advil Liqui Gels Minis The company has not seen any estimate revisions over the past one month while the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter also remained unchanged The recent price action is encouraging though so make sure to keep a close watch on this firm in the near future Catalent currently carries a Zacks Rank 2 Buy while its is 0 00 Catalent Inc Price Another player in the Medical Drugs industry which looks attractive at current levels is Akebia Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ AKBA which has the same Zacks Rank as Catalent You can see Is CTLT going up Or down Predict to see what others think or 4 Surprising Tech Stocks to Keep an Eye On Tech stocks have been a major force behind the market s record highs but picking the best ones to buy can be tough There s a simple way to invest in the success of the entire sector Zacks has just released a Special Report revealing one thing tech companies literally cannot function without More importantly it reveals 4 top stocks set to skyrocket on increasing demand for these devices I encourage you to get the report now before the next wave of innovations really takes off |
PFE | 3 Biotechs Among Top 4 Charts To Watch | Abeona Therapeutics Inc
Abeona NASDAQ ABEO rocketed 1 75 or 18 to close at 11 25 on very heavy volume of 2 7 million shares traded Tuesday The move came on news that the FDA granted breakthrough therapy status to the company s skin healing therapy The stock had been pulling back in a flag pattern after its July high at 10 26 and recently broke out of the flag with Tuesday s move thrusting the stock through that July high In the short term price may reach 14 15 and may well climb to 17 50 in the longer term Short interest of 10 8 times its average volume could fuel the move as shorts cover on a rally
Health Insurance Innovations Inc
Health Insurance Innovations NASDAQ HIIQ reached an all time high of 36 70 on Tuesday before settling to close at 35 95 up by 1 10 on heavy volume of 874 532 shares traded and no news The online insurance stock has risen more than 150 since March 27 and 33 since its positive earnings announcement on August 3 Price broke out of a bull flag consolidation pattern August 24 Next target range 39 40
ImmunoGen Inc
ImmunoGen NASDAQ IMGN popped 17 to close at 7 58 on a whopping 12 million shares traded that is more than four times its average volume and the largest volume the stock has seen since January The move came on news that the cancer drug company will collaborate with Jazz Pharmaceuticals on the development of blood cancer therapies If price can move through the prior high of 8 04 from July 6 the next targets will be 9 50 and 12 50
Sangamo Therapeutics Inc
Sangamo Therapeutics NASDAQ SGMO rose 11 or 1 30 and closed at 12 80 on heavy volume of 3 3 million shares traded Price broke above the prior high of 12 05 from August 14 The gene therapy company recently began a clinical trial with Pfizer NYSE PFE for a hemophilia treatment Price is up 250 year to date The near term target is 13 and the possibility for acceleration up to 17 in the coming weeks |
AMD | 6 Stocks To Watch AMD APPS CFMS KL QURE WNDW | It was a big day on Wall Street on Tuesday It was a rip roaring session to say the least A lot of stocks ran and it was a difficult day to choose what stocks I wanted to highlight and a few that you may not have heard of but I do at least want to show you some of the ideas and trends that are in place right now
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD
AMD broke out of a base consolidated and then ran up sharply It looks like a mini five wave advance On Tuesday it popped 1 99 or 7 22 to 29 59 on 105 million shares So it might be getting near the end of it A quick target is 12 1 2 If it gets extended this could be a 16 dollar stock
Digital Turbine Inc APPS
APPS exploded on Tuesday popping 61 cents or 16 1 2 to 4 29 on 16 3 million shares It looks like it s going to hit the 6 00 target My targets right now for APP are 5 1 4 6 and maybe 6 3 4 down the road It has a beautiful long term chart You can see the ramp up in Sept when it was 1 20 and now it s 4 29
Conformis Inc CFMS
CFMS one of our swing trades is doing great It broke out of a coiling type consolidation and is running now for five days in a row On Tuesday it popped 37 cents or 10 to 4 06 on 5 7 million shares I m looking for an extension up to 53 4 The volume was big at 5 7 million shares
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd KL
KL one of the best gold stocks in the world right now and my favorite for quite some time has gone from 5 00 31 2 years ago and now it s 37 and change more than a seven fold increase On Tuesday it ran 1 31 or 3 6 to 37 69 on 2 8 million shares It looks like it s headed to the mid 40s
uniQure N V QURE
QURE a leading gene therapy company had a big day on Tuesday with a pop of 6 10 or 9 44 to 70 74 on 2 5 million shares I think this stock exploded and has broken out of the March double top You may start to see a ramp up that takes it above a hundred dollars But for now the target is 80 85
SolarWindow Technologies Inc WNDW
WNDW exploded on Monday and had a big follow through on Tuesday reaching 4 35 but finished at 3 77 up 64 cents or 20 on 391 769 shares traded My targets now are a test of 4 3 4 and then eventually 6 6 1 4
Stocks on the long side
Adverum Biotechnologies Inc ADVM Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD Digital Turbine Inc APPS Conformis Inc CFMS JinkoSolar Holding Co Ltd JKS Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd KL MiMedx Group Inc MDXG Orion Energy Systems Inc OESX Predictive Technology Group Inc PRED uniQure N V QURE Snap Inc NYSE SNAP Soliton Inc SOLY The Trade Desk Inc TTD and SolarWindow Technologies Inc WNDW
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AMD | 4 Momentum Stocks To Watch | These four stocks in the high momentum technology biotech and mining areas are on the move
Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD leapt 1 99 to 29 57 on 107 million shares Tuesday On Monday the chipmaker announced a deal to license its custom graphics intellectual property IP to Samsung KS 005930 for use in mobile devices The stock has broken out of a 2 month sideways channel and any move across the 29 75 range could get this into the mid 30 s
Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd TSX KL gained 1 31 to 37 69 on 2 7 million shares Tuesday on no news from the gold mining company The stock is in a beautiful long term up channel from the 5 range in January 2017 After a 3 month sideways formation the stock has rallied in recent sessions with Tuesday s move taking out resistance from the Feb 28 high at 36 74 Watch for the mid 40 s next
uniQure N V NASDAQ QURE jumped 6 10 or 9 4 to 70 74 on 2 5 million shares Tuesday The move on nearly 5x the stock s average volume came on no news from the gene therapy company The stock which had a steep ascent from around 28 to just under 70 in the first three months of the year looks poised to resume the uptrend as Tuesday s move broke it out above the March double top Watch for 80 85 next
Snap Inc NYSE SNAP popped 1 26 to 12 95 on 53 3 million shares Tuesday The move came on no news from the Snapshot parent company The stock had been in a 2 month consolidation after rallying sharply to start the year The move broke the stock out of this consolidation zone and the highs from April with the next target at around 14
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AMD | AMD CDNA IOVA JE LJPC SAIC Stock Charts To Watch | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD has really been running as of late going from 26 to 32 in the last week and a half or so But the key is Thursday s action that broke out above the key trading range in the last two months It jumped 2 32 or 8 to 31 82 on over 131 million shares That s breakout volume I think it s going to retest the highs at 34 and then 38 39 It s looking real good
CareDx Inc NASDAQ CDNA is an old swing trade of ours and I believe the top pick for the year You can see on the chart that it ran back above resistance and on Thursday it was up 2 34 or 7 to 35 87 on 1 3 million shares It s likely that the targets are going to be 40 and 46
Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc NASDAQ IOVA broke the base popped formed a wedge exploded and then formed a little wedge It broke out pulled back and is really nicely moving in a rising channel on Thursday gaining 84 cents or 5 to 18 47 on 1 8 million shares I think it s going to see the 20 21 zone short term
Just Energy Group Inc TSX JE with an explosive move out of its base breakaway gap and big volume for this stock advanced 46 cents or 13 to 3 98 on 2 1 million shares on Thursday closing at the high for the day going away I think it s going to test the 4 1 2 3 4 area short term and then blow into the 5 1 2 6 area
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company NASDAQ LJPC one of my old favorites got crushed from the 40 s down to 5 00 It built a beautiful base and on Thursday exploded on positive drug news taking it from 5 31 to 11 38 and snapped back 4 92 or 92 1 2 to 10 24 on 24 million shares It more than doubled and although it backed and filled all day and at the end of the day it closed nicely I would now look for this stock to run to 14 and then maybe 16 as a secondary
Science Applications International Corporation SAIC also had a breakaway pop jumping 5 67 or 7 to 84 95 on 1 5 million shares That s a breakout The next target is 93 94
Stocks on the long side included Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD CareDx Inc CDNA Ciena Corporation CIEN Comtech Telecommunications Corp CMTL iCAD Inc ICAD Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc IOVA Just Energy Group Inc JE La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company LJPC Orion Energy Systems Inc OESX Anaplan Inc PLAN Science Applications International Corporation SAIC Snap Inc NYSE SNAP and Zynex Inc ZYXI
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T | AT T Stock Is A Buy For Dividend Investors | Dividend Aristocrats are those companies that have been able to increase their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years
Attaining this status is not something that is easily accomplished First a company must be a member of the S P 500 which means they must be one of the largest companies in the U S Second a company must offer a product or service that consumers cannot do without This allows the company to grow for long periods of time Lastly and perhaps most importantly to income investors a company must have the ability to weather all phases of the economic cycle if they hope to be able to increase its dividend payment for at least a quarter of a century
The Dividend Aristocrats are such an exclusive group that there are currently only 57 companies that have earned this title
One well known Dividend Aristocrat that we think is an excellent purchase right now is AT T NYSE T AT T stock is a buy today especially for dividend investors
Over the last year AT T s stock has underperformed the S P 500 returning only 2 7 compared to the index s 7 3 gain Year to date AT T has seen its share price increase 13 7 This is a solid return less than six months into the year but still below the S P 500 s 17 7 climb
We think that this underperformance against the market gives the stock the potential to see impressive growth going forward
Company Background and Financial Results
AT T has been in existence in some form or another for more than 140 years Companies don t last that long if they don t offer quality products or services Today AT T offers mobile broadband and other communications services to consumers and businesses in the U S After purchasing WarnerMedia in 2018 the company also offers Turner HBO and Warner Bros content AT T also provides advertising services in Latin America
AT T that we know today is a complex mix of merges and spinoffs that have been taking place since the early 1980s The company trades with a market capitalization of just under 237 billion and produced approximately 170 billion in sales in 2018
AT T released financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 on 4 24 2019 The company s top line grew 17 9 to 44 8 billion This was primarily due to the Time Warner acquisition Despite the double digit growth sales missed estimates by 280 million Earnings per share totaled 0 86 which was 0 01 below estimates and a 1 2 increase from the first quarter of fiscal 2018
The Mobility segment which is the largest in the company grew revenues 1 2 to 17 6 billion Service revenue improved 2 9 but was offset by a 4 5 decline in equipment
AT T had 80K net postpaid phone adds which was the first positive total for the first quarter in five years 179K smart phone net adds was offset by 482K tablet and other computing device net losses Postpaid phone churn increased to 0 93 from 0 84 from the first quarter of last year
Sales for the Entertainment Group declined to 0 9 to 11 3 billion as the company lost a net 627K subscribers DIRECTV NOW lost 83K subscribers due to price increases and less emphasis on promotions AT T did see 93K broadband net adds during the quarter
Business Wireline experienced a sales decline of 3 7 to 6 5 billion as growth in strategic and managed services only partially offset declines in legacy products Wireline capabilities grew 5 5 year over year
WarnerMedia grew sales 3 3 to 8 4 billion on the strength of Warner Bros which was up 8 6 due to double digit gains in theatrical product revenues Revenues for Warner Bros television was higher by nearly 8 as well On the other hand Turner sales dropped 0 4 due to a decrease in advertising Advertising results were negatively impacted by the shift of NCAA Final Four games into the second quarter
AT T expects to earn 3 60 per share in 2019 which would be an increase of 2 3 from the previous year We expect that the company can grow earnings per share at a rate of 3 1 per year through 2024 This is slightly above the company s 10 year growth rate but growth from WarnerMedia should help propel higher growth for AT T
Dividend Analysis
While first quarter results were mixed income investors likely weren t too concerned as the AT T is primarily known for its dividend The company has raised its dividend for the past 35 years Currently sitting at 6 3 the company s yield is more than three times the average yield of the S P 500 This makes the stock very attractive for investors searching for income The current yield is also above the stock s 10 year average yield of 5 6
A high yield can often be a sign that the company has a deteriorating business making the dividend prime for a cut
This is likely not the case with AT T as its dividend is well supported by cash flow
Over the last four quarters AT T has generated more than 25 billion in free cash flow The company has paid out 14 1 billion in dividends during this time period which represents just 55 of free cash flow produced during this period of time
This has enabled AT T to sustain its dividend but also help pay down debt For example between free cash flow and asset sales the company expects to pay down nearly 75 of the 40 billion it had to issue to acquire Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX by the end of the year
In addition AT T has been through three separate recessions and has managed to increase its dividend each time Because of this we find that the 6 yield is very safe even in the event of a prolonged downturn in the company s business
Valuation Analysis
In addition to earnings growth and dividend yield Sure Dividend believes that changes in an investment s valuation can also have an impact on total returns
AT T closed the 6 21 2019 trading session at 32 50 Based off of expected earnings per share of 3 60 for 2019 the stock has a price to earnings or P E ratio of 9 This compares quite favorably to our five year target P E ratio of 12 If shares were to reach our target by 2024 then valuation would add 5 9 to total returns during this period of time
If this comes to fruition then total annual returns would be made up of the following
3 1 earnings growth 6 3 dividend yield 5 9 multiple expansion
When you factor in earnings growth dividends and possible changes in valuation investors could be looking at 15 3 total returns for shares of A T over the next five years
Final Thoughts
AT T s stock has performed well in 2019 though it trails the return of the market index The company s most recent quarter showed signs of both strength and weakness Gains in Wireless Service and TimeWarner were offset by the Entertainment Group Business Wireline and Latin America
Still the stock offers a 6 dividend yield that we feel is very safe In total investors looking beyond the short term could be rewarded with at least 15 returns through 2024 As such shares of AT T receive a strong buy recommendation from Sure Dividend
Original Post |
AMD | Analyst initiates AMD at 24 upside | FBN Securities initiates AMD NASDAQ AMD at Outperform with a 40 price target a 24 upside to yesterday s close AMD shares are up 1 9 premarket to 32 83 Now read |
T | AT T to acquire security firm AlienVault | AT T NYSE T will acquire threat intelligence firm AlienVault in a boost to its security solutions Terms weren t disclosed though AT T says it doesn t change its post Time Warner plans for reduction of leverage net debt to adjusted EBITDA of about 2 5x by the end of year one and historical range by end of year four AT T says it will help expand enterprise grade security solutions to milliions of small and medium sized businesses The deal s expected to close in Q3 Now read |
T | AT T Magic Leap form exclusive consumer partnership | AT T NYSE T has signed up to be the exclusive wireless distributor for buzzed about spatial computing company Magic Leap makers of a mixed reality headset in development for some time Now the Magic Leap One Creator Edition is set to ship later this year to qualified designers and developers which means public availability is still an open question That device consists of a lightweight wearable computer along with goggles that superimpose 3D imagery over real world objects by projecting into users eyes When it is available for consumers it s coming first to select AT T stores in Atlanta Boston Chicago Los Angeles and San Francisco the company says AT T Communications CEO John Donovan has observer rights with Magic Leap s board T is down 0 7 premarket Now read |
T | Major League Baseball notebook Cubs activate Bryant start him vs Giants | Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant returned to the lineup Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants Bryant last played June 22 and was on the 10 day disabled list with shoulder discomfort He was in the lineup batting third and playing third base for the matinee at AT T NYSE T Park Bryant took batting practice and ground balls in the field last week at Wrigley Field before being sent out on a rehab assignment going 2 for 6 with a home run and three RBIs in two rehab games for Double A Tennessee In 66 games this season the 26 year old Bryant is batting 280 with nine homers and 36 RBIs The Texas Rangers have designated newly acquired outfielder Austin Jackson for assignment the team announced The Rangers acquired the veteran outfielder on Sunday as part of a deal that also brought right handed pitchers Jason Bahr and Cory Gearrin from the San Francisco Giants Texas received the three players for cash considerations or a player to be named later Jackson 31 had started 36 games and appeared in 59 games for San Francisco this season He was batting 242 with 13 RBIs By designating Jackson for assignment Texas has seven days to trade release or send him outright to the minor leagues The Houston Astros optioned right hander Ken Giles to Triple A Fresno a day after he suffered a ninth inning meltdown and appeared to mutter an expletive in the direction of manager A J Hinch as he was removed from the game Left hander Cionel Perez was recalled from Double A Corpus Christi to take Giles spot on the roster After Giles gave up singles to the first three Oakland Athletics batters he faced with the Astros up 4 0 Hinch replaced him with Hector Rondon who has handled the majority of the save opportunities since Giles was demoted from the closer role As Giles walked off the mound cameras appeared to catch him uttering an expletive in the direction of Hinch Rondon went on to blow the save and the Astros wound up winning 6 5 in the 11th inning The Boston Red Sox recalled left hander Robby Scott from Triple A Pawtucket optioning left hander Jalen Beeks to Pawtucket in a corresponding move Scott 28 was on the Red Sox s roster briefly this season He appeared in one game June 19 at Minnesota giving up two runs in one third of an inning He has been dominant at Pawtucket however posting a 1 15 ERA and striking out 48 in 30 appearances in relief The Kansas City Royals placed right hander Ian Kennedy on the 10 day disabled list with an oblique strain suffered Tuesday night against Minnesota Kennedy 1 8 with a 5 13 ERA was sidelined in June with an oblique strain but said the latest injury while on the same side is in a different spot Tuesday was his first start since that injury The Royals recalled right hander Jason Adam from Triple A Omaha to take Kennedy s place on the 25 man roster The Minnesota Twins have placed right hander Addison Reed on the 10 day disabled list with right triceps tenderness The relief pitcher has appeared in 41 games posting a 1 5 record with a 4 83 ERA Reed 29 has struck out 37 and surrendered eight home runs in 41 innings The Twins recalled right hander Alan Busenitz from Triple A Rochester to replace Reed This will be his third time on the Minnesota roster this season He has appeared in six games for the Twins and has a 2 0 record with a 6 43 ERA The Chicago White Sox have purchased the contract of right hander Jeanmar Gomez from Triple A Charlotte and designated struggling pitcher Bruce Rondon for assignment The 30 year old Gomez signed as a free agent with the White Sox on Jan 30 after eight major league seasons With Charlotte he posted a 5 0 record with a 2 03 ERA in 30 relief appearances Rondon 27 was 2 3 with an 8 49 ERA for the White Sox He allowed 28 earned runs in 29 2 3 innings pitched over 35 relief appearances The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they have claimed left hander Zac Rosscup off waivers from the Colorado Rockies Rosscup has appeared in 71 major league games over his career but hasn t pitched in the big leagues yet this season He started the year on the 60 day disabled list with a blister on his left middle finger Rosscup 30 made 10 relief appearances with Colorado s Triple A Albuquerque affiliate and gave up one earned run in 8 1 3 innings In a corresponding move the Dodgers designated left hander Edward Paredes for assignment In 15 relief appearances this season Paredes 31 has a 2 0 record and a 5 87 ERA Field Level Media |
T | AT T Augments Spectrum Capacity For Extensive 5G Rollouts | Following the completion of the latest round of telecom spectrum auction by the Federal Communications Commission FCC Auction 102 AT T Inc NYSE T has emerged as the leading bidder among all participants The company has reportedly won spectrum licenses that cover about 98 of the U S population offering it a competitive advantage for seamless 5G deployment across the country In particular AT T has won 24 GHz spectrum in 383 Partial Economic Areas for a nationwide average of 254 MHz Bulk of the license wins were secured in the upper 500 MHz portion of the 24 GHz band which will enable the company to command a strong nationwide coverage with solid spectrum depth and capacity in several top markets where demand is often the greatest Notably AT T has won nearly 286 MHz of broadband spectrum on average in the top 10 markets With cumulative expenditure of about 980 million AT T has won spectrum licenses in all the top 50 Partial Economic Areas and 99 of the top 100 Partial Economic Areas Combining the mmWave spectrum tally in the 39 GHz band the company currently boasts more than 630 MHz of nationwide mmWave spectrum for an unrivaled coverage across the country AT T intends to utilize the spectrum licenses to speed up its 5G deployment throughout the United States Currently its 5G services are available in select markets in 19 cities AT T aims to increase this tally to 29 by the end of 2019 As the first carrier in the industry the company has unveiled its 5G policy framework that will hinge on three pillars mobile 5G fixed wireless and edge computing In order to have a seamless transition among Wi Fi LTE and 5G services AT T intends to deploy a standards based nationwide mobile 5G network in early 2020 The company s 5G service entails utilization of millimeter wave spectrum for deployment in dense pockets while in suburban and rural areas it intends to deploy 5G on mid and low band spectrum holdings AT T believes that as the 5G ecosystem evolves customers can experience significant enhancements in coverage speeds and devices AT T anticipates gaining an advantage over rivals through edge computing services that allows businesses to route application specific traffic to where they need it and where it s most effective in the cloud the network or on their premises Through its Multi access Edge Compute MEC solution the company offers the flexibility to better manage data traffic The MEC leverages indigenous software defined network to enable low latency high bandwidth applications for faster access to data processing AT T expects edge computing solutions to be widely available in autonomous vehicles drones robotic production lines and autonomous forklifts in the near future Utilizing machine learning techniques and more connected devices this could transform the way data intensive images are transferred across the industry on real time basis We remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock The stock has outperformed the year to date with an average return of 13 2 compared with the 8 3 rise of the latter Some better ranked stocks in the industry are United States Cellular Corporation NYSE USM sporting a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy and Gogo Inc NASDAQ GOGO and T Mobile US Inc NYSE T both carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see United States Cellular surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters the average positive surprise being 79 3 Gogo beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters the average positive surprise being 38 7 T Mobile has a long term earnings growth expectation of 13 It beat earnings estimates in each of the preceding four quarters the average surprise being 12 1 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 98 119 and 164 in as little as 1 month The stocks in this report could perform even better |
T | AT T Harnesses Edge Capabilities With Hewlett Packard Tie Up | AT T Inc NYSE T recently collaborated with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company NYSE HPE to facilitate diverse businesses to harness edge connections and edge computing capabilities to push their boundaries to new frontiers The deal seems to be the call of the hour with increased 5G deployments giving rise to large quantum of data Edge computing forms a core focus area for AT T and marks a positive stride forward in providing faster processing and potentially enhanced security for business applications While AT T Multi access Edge Compute Services offer seamless cellular coverage along with new capabilities to manage cellular traffic through virtual network functions HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems provide a single system that implements data center level compute and management technology at the edge Together the companies aim to offer a flexible tool to better analyze data and process low latency high bandwidth applications The go to market alliance particularly intends to enable customers to swiftly convert data into actionable intelligence enabling unique digital experiences and smarter operations Moving forward AT T anticipates gaining an advantage over rivals through edge computing services that allow businesses to route application specific traffic to where they need it and where it s most effective in the cloud the network or on their premises Through its Multi access Edge Compute solution the company offers the flexibility to better manage data traffic It leverages indigenous software defined network to enable low latency high bandwidth applications for faster access to data processing AT T expects edge computing solutions to be widely available in autonomous vehicles drones robotic production lines and autonomous forklifts in the near future Utilizing machine learning techniques and more connected devices this could transform the way data intensive images are transferred across the industry on real time basis We remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock The stock has outperformed the year to date with an average return of 13 6 compared with the 8 7 rise of the latter A couple of better ranked stocks in the industry are Gogo Inc NASDAQ GOGO and T Mobile US Inc NYSE T both carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Gogo beat earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters the average positive surprise being 38 7 T Mobile has a long term earnings growth expectation of 13 It beat earnings estimates in each of the preceding four quarters the average surprise being 12 1 Will you retire a millionaire One out of every six people retires a multimillionaire Get smart tips you can do today to become one of them in a new Special Report 7 Things You Can Do Now to Retire a Multimillionaire |
PFE | Pfizer s revenue profit beat as vaccine sales rise | Reuters Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE on Tuesday reported better than expected second quarter profit and revenue helped by strong demand for its pneumonia vaccine and new breast cancer drug sending its shares up 1 percent The largest U S drugmaker which raised its full year earnings forecast said revenue from its global vaccines unit rose 44 percent to 1 58 billion The unit which includes the Prevnar 13 pneumonia vaccine accounted for about 13 percent of Pfizer s total revenue The breast cancer drug Ibrance which gained U S approval in February generated 140 million in sales in its first full quarter on the market nearly double analysts expectations The Ibrance launch is progressing well JP Morgan analyst Chris Schott said in a note The company is planning to file for European approval of Ibrance in the current quarter Overall sales of cancer drugs rose 25 percent to 713 million for the quarter Despite years of competition from cheaper generic copies Pfizer s cholesterol fighter Lipitor contributed sales of 509 million in the second quarter At its height Lipitor generated annual sales of 13 billion Sales of consumer healthcare products were weak falling 8 percent to 840 million The drugmaker raised its adjusted profit forecast for 2015 to 2 01 2 07 per share from 1 95 2 05 per share It increased the lower end of its full year revenue forecast to 45 billion from 44 billion maintaining the upper end at 46 billion Pfizer which got nearly two thirds of its 2014 revenue from markets outside the United States had cut its full year revenue and profit forecasts in April citing a strong dollar The company s second quarter net income fell to 2 63 billion or 42 cents per share from 2 91 billion or 45 cents per share a year earlier Excluding items Pfizer earned 56 cents per share topping analysts average expectations by 4 cents a share according to Thomson Reuters I B E S The earnings beat was particularly impressive given that top line foreign exchange headwind of 8 percent 1 billion was 1 percent higher than our forecast BMO Capital Markets analyst Alex Arfaei said in a research note Revenue fell 7 percent to 11 85 billion Wall Street was looking for 11 42 billion
Pfizer s shares were up 36 cents at 34 70 on the New York Stock Exchange |
PFE | Pfizer wins EU approval for 15 billion Hospira buy | BRUSSELS Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer N PFE gained European Union antitrust approval on Tuesday for its proposed 15 billion acquisition of U S rival Hospira N HSP after pledging to sell some drugs to allay competition concerns
The approval is conditional on Pfizer divesting certain sterile injectable drugs as well as its infliximab biosimilar drug which is currently under development the European Commission said
The deal the biggest ever for Pfizer will boost its portfolio of generic injectable drugs and copies of biotech medicines |
PFE | India rejects patent on Pfizer s arthritis drug | MUMBAI Reuters India has again denied Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE a patent on its rheumatoid arthritis drug tofacitinib the latest setback for a multinational drugmaker seeking to enforce its intellectual property rights in the country Pfizer sought a patent that covers an important chemical formulation of the active compound in the medicine but the Indian Patent Office said the company would have to establish that the compound for which it is seeking a patent is therapeutically more effective than the active compound The invention disclosed and claimed in the instant application is not considered as an invention under the provisions of the Act Bharat N S an assistant controller at the patent office wrote in an order dated Sept 3 Pfizer is reviewing its options for further action a Mumbai based company spokesman said in an emailed statement Drug patents have become a thorny issue for global drugmakers seeking to expand in India s fast growing healthcare market Companies including Pfizer Bayer and Roche have in recent years struggled to retain exclusivity on drugs in India and have blamed patent laws they say are designed to favor the local industry India however has said its drug patents policy is designed to ensure medicines remain affordable for the country where less than 15 percent of the population has health insurance India s patent office had rejected Pfizer s application to patent tofacitinib in 2011 but was ordered to reconsider the decision by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board after Pfizer appealed |
T | Sling TV introduces a la carte channels raises base package price | By Sheila Dang Reuters Dish Network Corp s Sling TV said on Thursday it would allow viewers to buy Showtime sports events and other TV channels without a subscription to the No 1 online streaming service as it seeks new revenue sources to deal with growing competition Sling is adding more options for viewers as pay TV competitors like AT T Inc NYSE T which introduced a 15 streaming service last week threaten to steal away customers looking for a lower cost channel package The move would help to turn Sling into a place where viewers can access all their content rather than switching between apps Sling TV President Warren Schlichting said in an interview Streaming platforms usually offer add ons like premium TV channel HBO on top of an existing subscription in order to charge a higher price Sling with 2 3 million subscribers in the first quarter will immediately raise the price of its lowest cost streaming subscription by 25 percent to 25 a month Schlichting said pointing to rising fees to televise sports AT T s DirecTV Now Sling TV s second largest rival had 1 5 million users in the first quarter Sling will sell eight standalone subscriptions including to NBA League Pass and faith based TV channels like Up Faith Family said Ankit Bishnoi vice president of content acquisition and strategy at Sling TV in an interview The standalone subscriptions which Schlichting said would move Sling TV closer to a la carte viewing will be rolled out first to former Sling subscribers to win them back Sling TV and programmers will share revenue for the standalone subscriptions said Schlichting who declined to provide specifics |
T | Why Is Amdocs DOX Up 1 Since Last Earnings Report | A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Amdocs DOX Shares have added about 1 in that time frame underperforming the S P 500
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release or is Amdocs due for a pullback Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late let s take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts Amdocs Reports Solid Q2 ResultsAmdocs reported second quarter fiscal 2019 results wherein the top line and bottom line beat estimates Quarterly non GAAP earnings came in at 1 06 per share up from 95 cents in the year ago quarter The bottom line also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 03 The figure matched the high end of the company s guided range of 1 to 1 06 Revenues for the reported quarter came in at 1 020 billion beating the consensus estimate of 1 016 billion and improving 2 8 year over year The top line also came within the company s guided the range of 995 1 035 billion Continued flow of new customers penetration into new regions and awards for projects and managed services drove revenue growth A positive impact of nearly 2 million year over year in foreign currency movements was a tailwind Quarter DetailsRegion wise revenues from North America 62 2 of total were 634 2 million up 1 6 from the year ago quarter driven by digital modernization requirements of many of Amdocs communications Pay TV and media customers Europe 14 8 recorded revenues of 151 million up 1 6 Rest of the World 13 generated revenues of 234 5 million up 6 8 During the quarter Amdocs worked with T Mobile and Sprint assuming the planned merger proceeds Recently Amdocs announced that it is rolling out the DigitalONE platform to modernize and accelerate Sprint s digital transformation Amdocs partnership with AT T NYSE T remains strong Growth areas within AT T Mobile such as Cricket prepaid in Mexico saw significant value addition by Amdocs during the quarter Deal wins including the one with Veon and a Tier 1 service provider in Spain drove revenue growth in Europe Additionally in France the company won a key modernization project for a major operator Extension of managed services agreements with several customers including Vodafone LON VOD Hungary and partnerships with Capita plc to provide digital business systems were tailwinds Revenues from Rest of the World were driven by the ramp up of new activities in APAC country such as the Philippines Malaysia Australia and Latin America During the quarter Amdocs was chosen by Telefonica MC TEF to support the launch of eSIM equipped smartphone and other devices for Vivo in Brazil Additionally the company was selected as a strategic partner to digitally transform the billing system and the processes of Safaricom enterprise billing division based in Nairobi Moreover Amdocs was selected to support the digital business of certain areas of India s entertainment platform Eros Now Management is optimistic about the 12 month backlog that reached 3 39 billion at the end of the quarter increasing 20 million sequentially The company continued to aid digital media and network transformations of its clients which improved its revenue growth rate Margins and Operating MetricsThe company incurred non GAAP operating expenses of 842 million up 2 6 from the year ago quarter Non GAAP operating income increased 3 5 to 177 8 million Operating margin of 17 4 for the quarter expanded 10 basis points year over year Balance Sheet Cash FlowAs of Mar 31 2018 Amdocs had cash cash equivalents and short term interest bearing investments of 449 7 million compared with 458 7 million recorded in the prior quarter During the fiscal second quarter the company repurchased shares worth 120 million Also its board of directors recently approved payment of a quarterly dividend of 0 285 per share The dividend will be paid on Jul 19 2019 OutlookFor third quarter fiscal 2019 Amdocs expects revenues in the range of 1 005 1 045 billion and adjusted earnings per share in the band of 1 08 to 1 14 For fiscal 2019 the company raised its revenue guidance on a reported basis It now expects revenues to grow 1 8 3 8 year over year compared with 0 5 4 5 rise expected earlier Amdocs also revised its revenue guidance on a constant currency basis It expects revenue growth between 3 and 5 compared with 2 6 projected earlier This guidance takes into account 1 2 year over year negative impact of foreign exchange fluctuations The company expects non GAAP earnings per share growth of 4 55 8 5 year over year up from the earlier guided range of 3 7 rise
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then
In the past month investors have witnessed an upward trend in fresh estimates
VGM Scores
At this time Amdocs has a nice Growth Score of B a grade with the same score on the momentum front Charting a somewhat similar path the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side putting it in the top 20 for this investment strategy
Overall the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A If you aren t focused on one strategy this score is the one you should be interested in
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending upward for the stock and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising It comes with little surprise Amdocs has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months |
T | AT T Rolls Out 5G Handsets With Samsung Seeks More Market | Delivering on its promise of providing Americas best wireless network AT T Inc NYSE T recently announced to make available the Samsung KS 005930 Galaxy S10 5G for its Business customers and 5G developers via AT T Developer Program Starting June 17 the sought after move is likely to spur ongoing developments in the field of next generation mobile communication The fifth generation cellular wireless technology will offer new connected experiences to subscribers as faster speeds and lower latency remains core tenet This will also drive the next industrial revolution through unparalleled mobile capabilities With that in mind customers availing the new AT T Business Unlimited Preferred plan can get the Galaxy S10 5G handset Samsung s first 5G device on AT T s 5G mmWave 5G network The company s new plan includes access to the AT T network at no extra cost Presently the telecom behemoth s 5G network is available in select areas of 19 cities planned to reach parts of at least 30 cities Such transition is expected to help enhance the company s wireless service revenue growth and postpaid phone net additions For the time being enterprises can get the Galaxy S10 5G with 256GB internal memory through their AT T account representatives for 999 99 AT T has been actively working with Ericsson NASDAQ ERIC Nokia NYSE NOK and Samsung as its key technology partners to build out the 5G network Markedly the first 5G enabled device was NETGEAR Inc NASDAQ NTGR Nighthawk 5G Mobile Hotspot The company is also building networks that will enable fiber based connectivity and LTE to work efficiently in parallel with 5G solutions making the most of business transformation alongside opportunities to increase revenues and reduce operating expenses Driven by diligent execution of operational strategies shares of AT T have rallied 12 8 compared with the s rise of 7 in the year to date period In addition the wireless service provider intends to meet its de leveraging goals with healthy free cash flow and asset sales This Zacks Rank 3 Hold stock has long term EPS growth expectation of 4 5 You can see Today s Best Stocks from ZacksWould you like to see the updated picks from our best market beating strategies From 2017 through 2018 while the S P 500 gained 15 8 five of our screens returned 38 0 61 3 61 6 68 1 and 98 3 This outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon From 2000 2018 while the S P averaged 4 8 per year our top strategies averaged up to 56 2 per year |
PFE | Pfizer offers concessions in bid to win EU okay for Hospira deal | BRUSSELS Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer N PFE has offered concessions in a bid to win European Union regulatory approval for its 15 billion takeover of U S rival Hospira N HSP the European Commission said on Tuesday The EU competition authority did not provide details of Pfizer s proposal in line with its policy It extended the deadline for its decision to Aug 4 from July 20 to examine the concessions It can either clear the deal if it considers Pfizer has allayed competition concerns regarding the deal or open a full scale investigation Pfizer maker of impotence treatment Viagra and cholesterol drug Lipitor is making its biggest ever acquisition aimed at expanding its portfolio of generic injectable drugs and copies of biotech medicines
Hospira makes generic versions of injectable drugs used in hospitals pumps to deliver such medicine and also sells biosimilars or copies of biotech drugs |
PFE | Pfizer rises 1 8 in pre market after upbeat Q2 earnings | Investing com U S pharmaceutical giant Pfizer NYSE PFE reported better than expected second quarter earnings ahead of Tuesday s opening bell sending its shares higher in pre market trade
Pfizer said adjusted earnings per share came in at 56 cents in the three months ended June 30 above expectations for adjusted earnings of 52 cents per share
The company s second quarter revenue totaled 11 9 billion beating forecasts for revenue of 11 42 billion
Ian Read Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated Our second quarter and year to date financial performance is the result of continued business momentum driven by solid execution of recent product launches in our Innovative Products business
Pfizer raised midpoint of 2016 revenue by 3 cents due to strong performance to date and an improved business outlook
Following the release of the report shares in Pfizer rose 1 77 in pre market trade to 34 99 compared to Monday s closing price of 34 38
Meanwhile U S stock futures pointed to a mildly higher open The Dow futures indicated a gain of 0 45 at the open the S P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0 55 while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0 6 |
T | Major League Baseball roundup Rays snap Astros 12 game winning streak | Wilson Ramos produced an RBI single in the eighth inning and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays snapped the Houston Astros 12 game winning streak with a 2 1 victory on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park Ramos who leads all American League catchers in voting for the All Star Game lined a pitch from Astros right hander Hector Rondon that just cleared the glove of leaping third baseman Yuli Gurriel and scored Matt Duffy who opened the frame with a double to right field Rondon 1 2 had worked 13 consecutive scoreless appearances and he stranded Adeiny Hechavarria at second base after entering in relief of Justin Verlander with two outs in the seventh Duffy and Ramos both went 2 for 4 while Joey Wendle also posted a multi hit game The Rays prevented Houston from setting a franchise record for consecutive wins Right hander Sergio Romo notched his fourth save by recording the final two outs of the ninth Cardinals 7 Phillies 6 Matt Carpenter hit the tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning as part of a three RBI performance as St Louis edged host Philadelphia Carpenter deposited an 0 2 pitch from Phillies right hander Seranthony Dominguez 1 1 just inside the right field foul pole with two outs in the ninth Tommy Pham and Kolten Wong added solo homers for the Cardinals Odubel Herrera and Carlos Santana homered for Philadelphia the 11th for each Giants 6 Marlins 3 Buster Posey homered and then got involved in a beanball war that prompted the ejection of Miami starting pitcher Dan Straily and manager Don Mattingly helping San Francisco to extract a small measure of revenge with a win at AT T NYSE T Park After Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez plunked Lewis Brinson one of the heroes of Miami s come from behind win Monday in the top of the second inning both pitchers and benches were warned to avoid further retaliation Mattingly complained to the umpires after they d warned his team even though it was Brinson who was hit Tuesday night closing his argument by saying to Posey You re next Sure enough after the Giants had increased their lead to 3 0 in the third inning Straily nailed Posey resulting in the pitcher s ejection as well as his manager s Angels 5 Diamondbacks 4 Ian Kinsler homered and Mike Trout reached base four times for the second game in a row helping Los Angeles snap a three game losing streak with a narrow win over Arizona Angels pitcher Felix Pena making his first career major league start gave up one run on two hits and three walks but lasted just four innings Four Angels relievers combined to pitch the final five innings Blake Parker pitching the eighth and ninth for his eighth save Trout drove in two runs with a single walked twice and reached on catcher s interference raising his on base percentage to a major league best 469 Rockies 10 Mets 8 Nolan Arenado hit the first of three consecutive home runs in a six run third inning and Colorado held on to beat visiting New York Trevor Story and Ian Desmond also homered in the third to help the Rockies end an eight game home losing streak It was the longest home losing streak since Colorado lost nine in a row at Mile High Stadium in its inaugural 1993 season Asdrubal Cabrera and Kevin Plawecki had two hits apiece for New York which had its three game winning streak snapped Twins 6 Red Sox 2 Eduardo Escobar knocked a tiebreaking single to center field that plated two runs in a four run eighth inning to help Minnesota beat Boston to start a three game series Escobar s hit trickled past Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr for his second error of the season scoring Ryan LaMarre from second and Joe Mauer from first to make it 4 2 Escobar went to third on the error Minnesota reliever Zach Duke 3 2 got the win despite allowing a run on two hits in the eighth inning Boston reliever Robby Scott 0 1 took the loss in his season debut permitting two runs on no hits and a walk in one third of an inning Dodgers 4 Cubs 3 Game 1 Pinch hitter Kyle Farmer hit a two out two run double in the ninth inning to give visiting Los Angeles a win over Chicago in the first game of a day night doubleheader The afternoon game was rescheduled from Monday night after rain and a failing bank of lights at Wrigley Field forced the postponement of the series opener It was the first of seven games to be played between the two teams in a span of 10 days The Dodgers were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position before Farmer pulled a pitch from Justin Wilson 1 2 down the left field line and into the corner Cubs 2 Dodgers 1 10 Game 2 Albert Almora hit a walk off RBI single to right field in the 10th inning as Chicago earned a doubleheader split against Los Angeles in the nightcap Kris Bryant tripled into the right field corner to open the bottom of the 10th against Dodgers reliever Brock Stewart 0 1 Javy Baez was intentionally walked before Almora delivered his game winning hit Rob Zastryzny 1 0 picked up the victory after recording one out in the 10th when he retired Yasmani Grandal on a fly ball to right field with the bases loaded The Dodgers were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position Rangers 4 Royals 1 Cole Hamels allowed just four hits and an unearned run in seven innings and rookie third baseman Isiah Kiner Falefa and right fielder Nomar Mazara each had three hit games to lead visiting Texas past Kansas City for its fourth straight win Keone Kela picked up his 17th save in 17 opportunities in 2018 and 19th in a row dating back to last season with a 1 2 3 ninth for the Rangers Jake Diekman struck out two in a perfect eighth to garner his eighth hold Hamels 4 6 who has a 1 45 ERA and 176 opponent batting average in his last five road games walked three and struck out seven and departed after throwing 108 pitches 72 of which were strikes A s 4 Padres 2 10 Jed Lowrie hit a two run homer with two outs in the top of the 10th inning after his team tied the game on a two out homer in the ninth to give Oakland an inspiring win over San Diego in the opener of a short two game series at Petco Park Marcus Semien singled with one out in the 10th and was at third on a stolen base and a throwing error by catcher Raffy Lopez when Lowrie connected on a 374 foot drive to right off Padres right handed reliever Adam Cimber 3 3 Right hander Lou Trivino 4 1 struck out two in two perfect innings to earn the win as A s relievers retired 10 of the final 11 Padres batters to end the game Right hander Blake Treinen got his 16th save Nationals 9 Orioles 7 Anthony Rendon s two run double to left in the seventh proved to be the game winning hit as Washington came from behind to beat visiting Baltimore in the first of a three game interleague series Trailing 6 5 in the seventh Washington jumped to the lead for good off Tanner Scott 0 1 the fourth of five Orioles pitchers Justin Miller 5 0 earned the win for Washington with two innings of one run two hit pitching in relief of starter Jefry Rodriguez Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth to earn his 19th save Reds 9 Tigers 5 Joey Votto blasted a grand slam and Sal Romano notched his second consecutive sharp performance as Cincinnati ended Detroit s five game winning streak Votto s homer was his seventh of the year He also walked twice and scored two runs Romano 4 7 tossed seven scoreless innings on Tuesday and recorded six strikeouts while allowing four hits and four walks Detroit starter Matthew Boyd 4 5 lasted just four innings He gave up five runs on six hits while striking out five Yankees 7 Mariners 2 Domingo German pitched seven outstanding innings as host New York hit four home runs to cruise past Seattle German 2 4 allowed two runs one earned on two hits while working quickly in his second career victory He retired 19 straight after allowing the first two hitters to reach The only hits German allowed were Dee Gordon s double four pitches into the game and Nelson Cruz s 18th homer of the season Indians 6 White Sox 3 Mike Clevinger struck out 10 batters and Francisco Lindor delivered a two run single in a four run second inning as Cleveland remained undefeated at home against Chicago Clevinger 6 2 gave up one run on five hits over 7 2 3 innings as he improved to 3 0 against the White Sox this season It was his second consecutive outing against the American League Central rival after striking out 11 on Thursday in Chicago Cody Allen got the last out for his 15th save in 16 chances The White Sox dropped their sixth consecutive game and are 2 7 against the Indians this season They are 11 23 against the AL Central Brewers 3 Pirates 2 Rookie right hander Freddy Peralta continued the strong start to his career with six shutout innings and Jesus Aguilar hit a two run homer and an RBI double Tuesday as Milwaukee edged host Pittsburgh The Brewers had lost three straight while Pittsburgh had won four of five Peralta 2 0 who was recalled from Triple A Colorado Springs to make his third big league start allowed two hits both singles with seven strikeouts and no walks Over his three starts the first two in May Peralta 22 has 25 strikeouts in 15 2 3 innings Braves 11 Blue Jays 4 Johan Camargo hit his first career grand slam and had a career best five RBIs in going 4 for 5 to lead visiting Atlanta over Toronto Charlie Culberson added a solo homer and made a spectacular catch in left field with two runners on base in the first inning for the Braves who won their third in a row and ended Toronto s three game winning streak Ender Inciarte added three hits had three RBIs and scored three runs for Atlanta Field Level Media |
T | AT T plans NarrowBand IoT for U S Mexico | AT T T 0 9 is launching NarrowBand Internet of Things solutions in the U S and Mexico to expand offerings for its business customers The company has an existing LTE M network in the two countries NarrowBand IoT adds another low power wide area technology to its arsenal It plans to launch in the U S early next year and Mexico by the end of 2019 We ve seen global momentum for LPWA since launching our North American LTE M network last year said AT T s Chris Penrose Adding NB IoT to our portfolio will expand our LPWA capabilities help drive investment in our evolution to 5G and support our customers as they deploy IoT solutions across the U S and Mexico Now read |
T | Giants Strickland apologizes for self inflicted injury | San Francisco Giants closer Hunter Strickland feeling the pain physically and emotionally apologized Thursday to the team and its fans for breaking the pinkie on his pitching hand while punching a door in anger earlier this week Strickland had just blown a save chance against the visiting Miami Marlins when he pounded a door at AT T NYSE T Park He allowed three runs in the ninth inning and took the loss as the Giants fell 5 4 He underwent surgery Tuesday to put two pins in his hand and he is expected to miss six to eight weeks Obviously this is on me and if I could go back and take it back I would 100 percent Strickland said This is something I will always regret But I don t have time to sit here and feel sorry for myself because I m the one that created this problem The incident is Strickland s latest involving his temper He got into a verbal confrontation with Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the 2014 World Series and he threw a pitch at Bryce Harper last year three years after a beef with the Washington Nationals outfielder Strickland hinted that he will seek anger management counseling I will talk to whoever I need to talk to whatever I need to do to just improve and get better he said I think that obviously my anger in these moments have gotten the best of me and caused stupid decisions so I don t think I should be this angry person I think focused is the better word We do have to be focused and locked in focused on getting those outs
Strickland 29 is 13 for 17 on save chances this season He has a 3 3 record with a 2 84 ERA Field Level Media |
T | AT T T Gains But Lags Market What You Should Know | AT T T closed at 31 66 in the latest trading session marking a 0 57 move from the prior day The stock lagged the S P 500 s daily gain of 0 82 At the same time the Dow added 0 82 and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 0 64
Coming into today shares of the telecommunications company had gained 3 11 in the past month In that same time the Computer and Technology sector lost 8 68 while the S P 500 lost 4 58
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from T as it approaches its next earnings report date The company is expected to report EPS of 0 90 down 1 1 from the prior year quarter Meanwhile our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of 45 09 billion up 15 66 from the prior year quarter
T s full year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of 3 59 per share and revenue of 183 54 billion These results would represent year over year changes of 1 99 and 7 49 respectively
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for T Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near term business trends With this in mind we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear actionable rating model
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Within the past 30 days our consensus EPS projection has moved 0 07 lower T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Investors should also note T s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 8 78 This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 18 75
Investors should also note that T has a PEG ratio of 1 96 right now The PEG ratio is similar to the widely used P E ratio but this metric also takes the company s expected earnings growth rate into account Wireless National stocks are on average holding a PEG ratio of 1 71 based on yesterday s closing prices
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 45 putting it in the top 18 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
Be sure to follow all of these stock moving metrics and many more on Zacks com |
T | Billionaire Slim America Movil could profit from election of Mexican leftist | By Julia Love and Christine Murray MEXICO CITY Reuters Billionaire Carlos Slim has had harsh words for Mexico s presidential frontrunner saying recently he is concerned and afraid about what leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador might do if elected But a victory by Lopez Obrador who holds a double digit lead in most polls before the July 1 vote could provide upside for Slim s fortunes particularly with regard to his America Movil MX AMXL telecommunications empire Reuters interviews with a dozen close friends partners and other people familiar with their dealings show Lopez Obrador s pick for telecoms minister Javier Jimenez told Reuters he favors re examining some regulations stemming from Mexico s landmark 2014 telecommunications reform a law that has clipped America Movil s profits and inhibited its expansion That is because Slim s company which possesses the largest network in Mexico could play a key role in delivering cell coverage to rural areas but complains current regulations hold it back Lopez Obrador has championed better connectivity for the nation s impoverished farmers and indigenous people who are some of his strongest supporters We have to define a policy so that within six years there is the possibility of 5G across the whole country said Jimenez who went to college with Slim and has known him for some 60 years He emphasized that all players would be invited to take part Jimenez said such a shift could include reviewing criteria for evaluating preponderance That concept in the telecoms law triggers tougher regulation for players with more than 50 percent market share America Movil still accounts for more than 60 percent of Mexico s fixed lines and mobile users America Movil executives have complained publicly the company is hamstrung from entering underserved areas because that would only increase its market share prolonging antitrust scrutiny Jimenez said the country s reform is behind on its mandate to expand access He said a Lopez Obrador administration would not seek to modify the overall reform which created an independent regulator but would conduct a review of secondary regulations to ensure competition is not coming at the expense of coverage There shouldn t be competition for competition s sake Jimenez said Competition is an element a tool that permits a larger goal which is better attention to the user There could be even more good news for Slim Jimenez and another Lopez Obrador adviser telecoms veteran Abel Hibert said they were open to the idea of granting America Movil a television license a sector the company has long been denied entry because of its size and influence Such a move would be up to regulators But if it came to pass it would allow America Movil to achieve its dream of offering customers phone service internet and video in one package and Jimenez said could help serve far flung consumers Changes to Mexico s telecoms landscape would come with high stakes The reform which required a constitutional amendment enjoys broad public support Rates fell service improved and consumers have more choices U S based AT T Inc N T invested heavily to grab a share of a market with an estimated 114 million cell subscriptions Many are wary of softening measures against Slim whose company has waged numerous court battles to stymie the legislation and maintain its power If we let down our guard America Movil will only get stronger said Senator Gerardo Flores whose Partido Verde helped pass the reform A spokesman for America Movil declined to comment as did a spokeswoman for Lopez Obrador A PRAGMATIC RELATIONSHIP The prospect of Lopez Obrador a social activist and economic nationalist as president has spooked some leading Mexican businesspeople Yet pragmatism has marked the relationship between the austere politician and Slim Mexico s richest man The pair tussled recently over a proposed 13 billion airport for Mexico City Lopez Obrador decried it as a waste of taxpayers money Slim called a rare press conference to defend the project for which his construction companies hold lucrative contracts But the controversy faded quickly Lopez Obrador subsequently said that if elected he would consider allowing the private sector to finance the airport alleviating the need for public money a solution Slim himself had proposed Practicality likewise prevailed in the early 2000s when Lopez Obrador was Mexico City mayor and he and Slim teamed up to revitalize the decrepit historic center They clashed early Slim regularly attended the meetings but while he was out undergoing a medical procedure Lopez Obrador s team attempted to make major changes two people familiar with the project said Rather than feuding Slim suggested the men divvy up responsibilities The project was ultimately a success Slim saw the value of his downtown real estate holdings soar while Lopez Obrador positioned himself for national office Slim doesn t consider Lopez Obrador his ideal leader and Lopez Obrador doesn t consider Slim his ideal businessperson said James Jones a former U S ambassador to Mexico who knows both men But I think they can work together Telecommunications could provide another avenue for the men to help each other get what they want Mexico s telecoms reform was a rude awakening for Slim who acquired the former state owned Telmex phone monopoly in the 1990s and has dominated the nation s industry ever since The legislation aimed at loosening America Movil s grip The company was forced to share its network with competitors and initially was banned from charging interconnection fees The company saw its Mexican profit margins fall to less than 35 percent from 45 percent in just a few years Consumers meanwhile rejoiced as rates fell by roughly 40 percent But more than a third of Mexicans still lack a mobile subscription behind countries such as Argentina and Brazil according to estimates from trade group GSMA Intelligence Millions live in areas without coverage Reaching those Mexicans would be a top priority for Lopez Obrador adviser Jimenez said Noting that companies favor profitable urban areas he said the administration would entice them to invest in less lucrative rural zones He did not provide specifics Some telecoms experts say Mexico s regulations could potentially be tweaked so not all rural subscribers count toward America Movil s market share though there is some debate about how much flexibility the constitution allows Slim already has weakened one major plank of the reform persuading the Supreme Court in August to overturn a provision that had forced America Movil to let rivals use its network for free To be sure Lopez Obrador s influence would have limits The reform created an independent regulator the Federal Telecommunications Institute IFT which oversees competition But Lopez Obrador could shape the regulator over time The next president will name four of seven commissioners Jimenez stressed he would respect the IFT s autonomy and work collaboratively to chart the right course Nevertheless many in telecoms are convinced a victory by Lopez Obrador would be a win for Slim as well
When the men were sparring over the airport I found it more like a sort of charade said Ernesto Piedras of research firm CIU in Mexico City There s been a very long period of them being close and collaborative for political and economic purposes |
T | AT T T Up 5 9 Since Last Earnings Report Can It Continue | It has been about a month since the last earnings report for AT T T Shares have added about 5 9 in that time frame outperforming the S P 500
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release or is AT T due for a pullback Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late let s take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts AT Marginally Beats on Q1 Earnings Misses on RevenuesAT T reported strong first quarter 2019 results driven by solid domestic wireless business and incremental contribution from WarnerMedia assets The company expects to continue this healthy growth momentum in 2019 while focusing on reducing its huge debt burden Net IncomeOn a GAAP basis AT T reported net income of 4 096 million or 56 cents per share compared with 4 662 million or 75 cents per share in the year ago quarter The year over year decline in earnings despite healthy top line growth was primarily attributable to higher operating costs and merger and integration related expenses Excluding non recurring items adjusted earnings for the quarter were 86 cents per share compared with 85 cents in the year earlier quarter and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny Quarter DetailsQuarterly consolidated revenues increased 17 8 year over year to 44 827 million primarily due to the accretive Time Warner acquisition and solid performances by domestic wireless services and advertising unit Xandr The top line however missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 45 093 million Operating income for the quarter was 7 233 million compared with 6 201 million in the prior year quarter largely driven by WarnerMedia assets resulting in respective operating income margins of 16 1 and 16 3 Adjusted operating income for the reported quarter excluding the amortization merger and integration related expenses and other items was 9 585 million compared with 7 510 million in the year earlier quarter for respective margins of 21 4 and 19 7 During the reported quarter AT T experienced a net increase in total wireless subscribers of 2 7 million to reach 155 7 million in service Postpaid churn was 1 17 compared with 1 06 in the year ago quarter owing to pricing pressures and tablet churn The company had 165 000 branded net adds both postpaid and prepaid Postpaid phone only average revenue per user ARPU increased 3 7 year over year to 55 36 Segmental PerformanceCommunications Total segment revenues were 35 393 million down 0 4 year over year with decline in Business Wireline owing to lower legacy voice and data services revenues Service revenues from the Mobility unit improved 2 9 year over year to 13 792 million owing to subscriber gains and postpaid phone ARPU growth while equipment revenues were down 4 5 to 3 775 million due to record low upgrades Revenues from the Entertainment Group remained relatively stable Segment operating income was 8 052 million compared with 8 027 million in the year ago quarter largely due to continued focus on cost initiatives Operating margin was 22 8 compared with 22 6 in the prior year quarter EBITDA was 12 645 million compared with 12 604 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 35 7 and 35 5 WarnerMedia Total segment revenues were 8 379 million with solid performance from all business units Operating income improved to 2 243 million owing to strong gains from Turner and Home Box Office units for corresponding margin of 26 8 EBITDA was 2 386 million for a corresponding margin of 28 5 Latin America Total revenues were 1 718 million down 15 2 year over year due to adverse foreign currency translation EBITDA decreased to 127 million from 221 million in the year ago quarter for respective margins of 7 4 and 10 9 primarily due to foreign exchange Xandr Total revenues were 426 million up 26 4 year over year due to AppNexus acquisition while operating income declined 11 5 to 253 million due to higher acquisition and integration costs for corresponding margin of 59 4 EBITDA was 266 million for a corresponding margin of 62 4 Cash Flow LiquidityAT T generated 11 052 million of cash from operations in the reported quarter compared with 8 947 million in the prior year period Free cash flow at quarter end increased to 5 870 million from 2 829 million in the year ago period As of Mar 31 2019 AT T had 6 516 million of cash and cash equivalents with long term debt of 163 942 million Moving ForwardWith solid performance from the Wireless business and incremental contribution from WarnerMedia assets AT T is poised to continue its healthy growth momentum The company also remains focused on managing its debt portfolio and is well on track to achieve its set target of 2 5x debt to EBITDA range by year end 2019 AT T is ramping up its FirstNet program and revamping lineup of video products pricing and promotion initiatives At the same time the company remains well poised to benefit from the impending 5G boom deploying mobile 5G services in select regions in 19 cities across the United States AT T has also revamped its video content lineup at competitive prices The strategic move is likely to increase its subscriber base and augment overall revenues as lower video packages are offset by higher digital ad revenues The company has restructured its WarnerMedia business to focus more on video streaming service and fine tuned its operating model with the evolving needs of customers As part of the overhaul process of the newly minted WarnerMedia unit AT T has consolidated all its affiliates and sales groups under a unified platform with its units organized under entertainment networks live programming content production and affiliate and advertising sales AT T has also reorganized the management structure within WarnerMedia We remain impressed with the inherent growth potential of this stock
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then
In the past month investors have witnessed a downward trend in fresh estimates
VGM Scores
At this time AT T has a nice Growth Score of B though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with an F However the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side putting it in the top 20 for this investment strategy
Overall the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B If you aren t focused on one strategy this score is the one you should be interested in
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift Notably AT T has a Zacks Rank 3 Hold We expect an in line return from the stock in the next few months |
T | Will Bitcoin s Solid May Rally Last ETFs In Focus | Bitcoin is now around 9 000 as it had the best one month rally in May since before the token s monumental jump in 2017 Bitcoin gained about 65 in the past month and 133 this year This happened even after the SEC postponed its decision on the VanEck SolidX bitcoin BTC ETF proposal this month read
What s Behind the Surge
The other key cryptocurrencies by market capitalization also saw considerable gains a flurry of positive headlines has hit the crypto market AT T Inc NYSE T said last week that it will allow customers to pay bills with Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash Also Fidelity Investments was finalizing plans to buy and sell the digital asset for institutional customers Possibilities of greater accessibility are thus driving the bitcoin
What Lies Ahead
The bitcoin market faced its share of troubles from August 2018 to March 2019 So many market watchers view the price rally as the end to the bear market Bulls are wagering on the probability of a continued run as more institutions start to build out their own cryptocurrencies or launch projects using the underlying blockchain technology per Bloomberg Bullish market watchers expect bitcoin to by the end of the year read
There are bearish opinions as well In the short term remains bearish on Bitcoin which he predicts will slump to 4 200 4 500 price range by the second half of June In a May 24 interview on MMCrypto the researcher said that the currency would top out at around 9 400 this month though it could drop sub 7 000 any hour
Any ETF Alternatives to Play Bitcoin
Though bitcoin ETFs are not available to investors and the future price momentum is dubious investors can choose to invest in the related but way stable investing options like blockchain ETFs Per a source the literally acts a ledger it keeps track of the balances for all users and updates them as money changes hands
So if investors cannot lay their hands on a bitcoin ETF now they can definitely familiarize with the concept through blockchain ETFs like Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF TSXV BLOK and First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction Process ETF
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T | AT T T Stock Moves 0 06 What You Should Know | AT T T closed the most recent trading day at 31 91 moving 0 06 from the previous trading session This change was narrower than the S P 500 s 0 69 loss on the day At the same time the Dow lost 0 87 and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0 79
Coming into today shares of the telecommunications company had gained 3 13 in the past month In that same time the Computer and Technology sector lost 7 49 while the S P 500 lost 4 53
Investors will be hoping for strength from T as it approaches its next earnings release In that report analysts expect T to post earnings of 0 90 per share This would mark a year over year decline of 1 1 Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 45 01 billion up 15 46 from the year ago period
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 3 59 per share and revenue of 183 37 billion These totals would mark changes of 1 99 and 7 39 respectively from last year
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for T These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short term business trends As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near term stock prices To benefit from this we have developed the Zacks Rank a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system
The Zacks Rank system ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell It has a remarkable outside audited track record of success with 1 stocks delivering an average annual return of 25 since 1988 Over the past month the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0 07 lower T is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of 3 Hold
Investors should also note T s current valuation metrics including its Forward P E ratio of 8 9 For comparison its industry has an average Forward P E of 23 92 which means T is trading at a discount to the group
Also we should mention that T has a PEG ratio of 1 52 The PEG ratio is similar to the widely used P E ratio but this metric also takes the company s expected earnings growth rate into account The Wireless National was holding an average PEG ratio of 1 49 at yesterday s closing price
The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 151 putting it in the bottom 42 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
To follow T in the coming trading sessions be sure to utilize Zacks com |
PFE | In Cuba New York Governor Cuomo seeks to open doors to trade | By Marc Frank HAVANA Reuters New York Governor Andrew Cuomo met senior Cuban officials in Havana on Monday as the head of a high powered business delegation looking to take advantage of President Barack Obama s easing of restrictions with the Communist led island Cuomo a Democrat is the first governor to visit Cuba since a December announcement by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro that they would restore diplomatic relations and work to normalize trade and travel ties after more than a half century of hostility and confrontation Cuomo termed the agreement courageous in opening remarks to a business conference and said We want to do everything we can to help Cuomo was joined by top executives from JetBlue Airways Corp Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE and MasterCard Inc who were among 18 business leaders and academics on the trip Cuomo said the purpose of his visit was to see what can be done now and look to the future should full trade be restored He also mixed in some fun drinking a mojito at the Hotel Nacional while Cuban officials gave him what he said was his first ever Cuban cigar Cuomo joked that if he rushed through his speech he would have time to smoke it As part of a deal hammered out over 18 months of secret talks the Obama administration has loosened travel regulations opened the door to some financial services trade in information technology aviation and other sectors and announced it will eliminate Cuba from the State Department s list of state sponsors of terrorism But the trade embargo remains largely in place and can be lifted only by the Republican controlled Congress Marilu B Hamel director of North American affairs at the foreign trade and investment ministry said the visit was welcomed and would serve to explore the potential between our two countries and support the progress of normalization MasterCard says it is ready to provide service in Cuba and JetBlue has said it wants to begin direct commercial flights to Cuba Neither has reached a deal with Cuban officials but by Monday afternoon the delegation was in initial talks with Cubans from biotechnology aviation banking and tourism after lunching with the Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca Our meeting with Minister Malmierca was very exciting and informative Cuomo said There is much hope for the future The delegation was due to meet with Cuban First Vice President Miguel Diaz Canal on Monday and Cuomo is scheduled to hold a news conference on Tuesday before departing
Ten previous U S governors have visited Cuba since 1999 but none since 2010 according to the U S Cuba Trade and Economic Council |
PFE | Pfizer shares fall on weak guidance | Investing com U S pharmaceutical giant Pfizer NYSE PFE provided weak guidance for the rest of year ahead of Tuesday s opening bell despite reporting better than expected first quarter earnings Pfizer said adjusted earnings per share was 0 51 cents in the first quarter above expectations for adjusted earnings of 0 49 cents per share The company s first quarter revenue totaled 10 86 billion beating forecasts for revenue of 10 73 billion Pfizer said it expected full year adjusted revenue to come in a range between 44 7 billion and 46 0 billion compared to a previous range forecast of 44 5 billion to 46 5 billion Pfizer s 2015 financial guidance was updated solely to reflect changes in foreign exchange rates in relation to the U S dollar from mid January 2015 to mid April 2015 primarily the weakening of the euro For the full year the company expects adjusted earnings per share in a range between 1 32 to 1 47 compared to a previous outlook of 1 37 to 1 52 per share Ian Read Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated We began the year with good performance on both the top and bottom line and I believe the company is well positioned in terms of in line products recent product launches geographic reach and product pipeline Following the release of the report shares in Pfizer dipped 0 23 in pre market trade to 34 51 from a closing price of 34 59 on Monday Meanwhile U S stock futures pointed to a mildly lower open The Dow futures indicated a loss of 0 4 at the open the S P 500 futures pointed to a drop of 0 35 while Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0 15 |
AMD | AMD races to new all time high | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD is now up 11 as investors continue to rush in on news of the company s new graphics card The company says in its release that the new Radeon Pro V340 graphics card employs advanced security features and helps to cost effectively deliver and accelerate modern visualization workloads from the datacenter Separately AMD also won a patent fight with Vizio over TV graphics Shares of AMD carved out a new all time high of 26 80 earlier Now read |
AMD | Lattice names AMD s Anderson as new CEO shares 6 4 | Lattice Semiconductor NASDAQ LSCC has named Jim Anderson president and chief executive officer Shares have jumped 6 4 after hours That move is effective Sept 4 Anderson also joins the board of directors He comes from Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD where he was GM and senior VP of the Computing and Graphics business group AMD is 0 6 lower after hours Glen Hawk Lattice s chief operating officer has been serving as interim CEO he ll work as special advisor to the CEO through Oct 31 before leaving Lattice for other opportunities Now read |
T | How Reuters reported the AT T Time Warner ruling first | Reuters For U S media companies and investors it was the ruling of the decade A federal judge in Washington had sole power to decide whether telecoms company AT T Inc NYSE T could buy Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX the parent of HBO CNN and Warner Bros for 85 billion and reshape the U S media landscape After a six week long trial Judge Richard Leon set a hearing date of June 12 at 4 p m 2000 GMT to announce his ruling People were so keen to get a seat in his courtroom that they took turns standing in line more than 24 hours ahead of the event Reuters reporters Diane Bartz and David Shepardson stood in line from 7 a m that morning to secure two of the 27 seats reserved for reporters Shepardson s seat was the more advantageous of the two nearer the aisle Leon s rules were simple but a nightmare for reporters working in a real time all digital news environment First everyone in his courtroom was barred from having active electronic devices with them and court officials tested each as people entered the court Second no one could leave until Leon had completed reading an abbreviated recap of his 172 page ruling and had left the courtroom himself One of Leon s clerks said the only exception would be for people on a gurney With those rules in mind Reuters had another reporter Ginger Gibson outside the courtroom with a series of prepared alerts ready to transmit from her laptop covering a range of possible outcomes Gibson was set up just outside the door where she could see a signal from Bartz or Shepardson telling her which alert to send Immediately after the courtroom doors closed however another court official forced everyone who did not go into the hearing to clear the hallway The last minute twist meant Gibson was not where her colleagues would expect her to be when they came running from the court Inside the courtroom Leon delivered his ruling AT T could proceed with the Time Warner purchase with no restrictions widely seen as a green light to further media telecoms mergers worth hundreds of billions of dollars When Leon finished Shepardson a former high school hurdler made a dash for the aisle and the door vaulting briefcases and people He burst through the crowd into the hallway looking for Gibson who was no longer where he had left her But she had managed to stay in a position where she could see the door and as it opened she ran forward with her open laptop meeting Shepardson halfway down the hall The ruling matched one of the prepared scenarios and they sent the alert 10 seconds ahead of the competition The market reacted immediately
Within minutes Time Warner shares were up more than 4 percent while those of AT T tumbled 5 5 percent Shares of Twenty First Century Fox seen as one of the key properties to be put into play by the ruling shot up 6 percent in less than three minutes |
T | Time flies AT T creates WarnerMedia from Time Warner | AT T T 1 7 is renaming its still fresh Time Warner acquisition WarnerMedia according to an internal memo Unit CEO John Stankey also set up structural moves in the memo noting that Turner chief John Martin has chosen to depart and that three execs who had reported to Martin Turner President David Levy Turner International President Gerhard Zeller and CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker now report to Stankey Why WarnerMedia The short answer is that it tested very well externally as a naming convention that holds the valuable HBO Turner and Warner Bros brands Stankey said He also noted previous confusion since many never learned to distinguish between Time Warner the media company and Time Warner the former cable company The former Time Inc was spun off back into its own company by Time Warner in June 2014 leaving no connection to the venerable magazine brand Meanwhile Time Warner cable had been spun off as a separate company in 2009 and was eventually bought by Charter The three main divisions of WarnerMedia HBO Turner and Warner Bros will see little change in headcount but many of the redundant corporate support functions between our companies at the HQ holding company level will be eliminated in the coming months Previously John Malone isn t rushing into media merger fray Jun 15 2018 Previously AT T TWX closing details stock cash split expected synergies Jun 14 2018 Previously Quick moving AT T closes Time Warner buyout starting new era Jun 14 2018 Now read |
PFE | PBYI Shares Climb Up As Company Announced FDA Approval For NERLYNX | Puma Biotechnology Inc NASDAQ PBYI
Puma Biotechnology Inc PBYI a biopharmaceutical company yesterday announced that the U S Food and Drug Administration approved NERLYNX neratinib Neratinib is the company s inhibitor used to treat adult patients in early stages of breast cancer
The treatment showed a statistically significant reduction in invasive disease recurrence versus the placebo Neratinib will be the first anti HER2 treatment to be approved by the FDA
Puma expects neratinib to hit the market by September 2017
Puma Biotechnology Inc CEO s Comments
Despite advances in the treatment of early stage HER2 positive breast cancer there remains a need for further therapeutic improvements in order to attempt to further reduce the risk of disease recurrence said Puma Biotechnology CEO and President Alan H Auerbach We are pleased to be able to bring this new medicine to patients with breast cancer We would like to express our appreciation to the patients caregivers and physicians who contributed to the neratinib clinical development program and more specifically the ExteNET trial
PBYI Technical Analysis
PBYI opened trading yesterday at 89 50 which was down from the previous day s trading close of 89 55 PBYI closed trading yesterday at 86 10 and spiked up after market to 94 00 equivalent to a 9 increase from the closing price Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time PBYI traded above these levels we have to go back to July 13th when it traded at 94 70
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike up PBYI had already been in an overall upward trend dating back to May 8th when it traded at 29 00 PBYI has a float of 23 08 million shares and traded below the normal daily trading volume on Monday
For purposes I would like to see PBYI open trading on Tuesday above 91 50 or the and if it does I would be looking to take a long position at the bell My would be 0 50 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up
Company Profile
Puma Biotechnology Inc a biopharmaceutical company focuses on the development and commercialization of products to improve cancer care
Its drug candidates include PB272 neratinib oral for the treatment of early stage breast cancer metastatic breast cancer non small cell lung cancer HER2 mutation positive solid tumors and HER2 mutated non amplified breast cancer and PB272 neratinib intravenous
The company also develops PB357 an orally administered agent that is an irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor that blocks signal transduction through the epidermal growth factor receptors HER1 HER2 and HER4
It has a license agreement with Pfizer NYSE PFE Inc for the development manufacture and commercialization of PB272 neratinib oral PB272 neratinib intravenous PB357 and certain related compounds Puma Biotechnology Inc was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Los Angeles California |
AMD | Analysts Estimate Advanced Micro Devices AMD To Report A Decline In Earnings What To Look Out For | The market expects Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD to deliver a year over year decline in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended March 2019 This widely known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company s earnings picture but a powerful factor that might influence its near term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report which is expected to be released on April 30 On the other hand if they miss the stock may move lower
While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management s discussion of business conditions on the earnings call it s worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This chipmaker is expected to post quarterly earnings of 0 05 per share in its upcoming report which represents a year over year change of 54 6
Revenues are expected to be 1 26 billion down 23 8 from the year ago quarter
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change
Price Consensus and EPS Surprise
Earnings Whisper
Estimate revisions ahead of a company s earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out Our proprietary surprise prediction model the Zacks Earnings ESP Expected Surprise Prediction has this insight at its core
The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier
Thus a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate However the model s predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only
A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy 2 Buy or 3 Hold Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70 of the time and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP
Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and or Zacks Rank of 4 Sell or 5 Strong Sell
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Advanced Micro
For Advanced Micro the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0
On the other hand the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3
So this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Advanced Micro will beat the consensus EPS estimate
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue
While calculating estimates for a company s future earnings analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates So it s worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number
For the last reported quarter it was expected that Advanced Micro would post earnings of 0 09 per share when it actually produced earnings of 0 08 delivering a surprise of 11 11
Over the last four quarters the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two times
Bottom Line
An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors Similarly unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss
That said betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success This is why it s worth checking a company s Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they ve reported
Advanced Micro doesn t appear a compelling earnings beat candidate However investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release |
PFE | Pfizer in 5 billion accelerated buyback deal with Goldman Sachs Co | Reuters Drugmaker Pfizer Inc N PFE said it entered into an agreement with Goldman Sachs Co to buy back 5 billion of its stock Pfizer said the accelerated share repurchase was assumed in the forecast for the full year it provided last month Under the agreement which forms a part of Pfizer s existing buyback authorization about 150 million shares will be bought The settlement is expected during or prior to the third quarter
Shares of the New York based company closed at 33 06 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday |
PFE | As CEOs seek tax cuts senator slams corporate tax haven use | By David Lawder WASHINGTON Reuters Senator Bernie Sanders lashed out on Wednesday at widespread use of offshore tax havens by U S companies and the liberal independent targeted a group that represents CEOs of big corporations and wants corporate taxes lowered Sanders top opposition member on the U S Senate Budget Committee released a report decrying what he called legalized tax fraud It showed that 111 of the 201 member companies of the Business Roundtable are sheltering more than 1 trillion in profits overseas where they are not subject to U S taxes Using the Cayman Islands Bermuda and other tax havens these companies have saved more than 280 billion in tax liabilities Sanders concluded in the report The senator from Vermont delivered his broadside a day ahead of a media event the Business Roundtable scheduled at its Washington office The group was expected to call again for a rewrite of the U S tax code including a lower corporate income tax rate Sanders said Business Roundtable companies account for roughly half of an estimated 2 trillion in profits held overseas by U S companies under a loophole that lets them defer taxation on profits from overseas subsidiaries The last thing Congress should do is provide more tax breaks to such profitable businesses Sanders said Instead of sheltering profits in the Cayman Islands and other offshore tax havens the largest corporations in this country must pay their fair share of taxes so that our country has the revenue we need to rebuild America and reduce the deficit Sanders said in a statement Many business groups have sought a repatriation holiday that would allow them to bring home overseas profits at a reduced tax rate The senator s report relies heavily on data compiled in June 2014 by Citizens for Tax Justice a left leaning activist group and U S Public Interest Research Group a consumer advocacy group that says it stands up to powerful special interests The report said the data comes from Securities and Exchange Commission filings compared with offshore subsidiaries listed in a 2008 Government Accountability Office report on tax havens Among Business Roundtable members listed in the report with large amounts of profits held abroad were General Electric Co with 110 billion Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE with 69 billion and IBM Corp with 52 3 billion
A spokeswoman for the Business Roundtable said the group was studying the report and could not immediately comment on it |
AMD | Rosenblatt boosts AMD target to new Street high | Rosenblatt maintains a Buy rating on AMD NASDAQ AMD and raises the price target to the Street high 30 from 27 a 44 upside to yesterday s close Analyst Hans Mosesmann cites positive institutional investor meetings and renewed conviction for a multiyear double digit growth profile for AMD AMD shares are up 1 4 premarket to 21 19 Now read |
T | Global stocks capped by trade war concerns central banks | By Nick Brown NEW YORK Reuters Stocks across the globe wavered on Wednesday on fears of trade tensions and questions about U S interest rates while lower than expected inventory data sent oil prices into the black after morning losses Investors are awaiting the U S Federal Reserve s 2 00 p m ET 1800 GMT decision on monetary policy with the year s second interest rate hike almost certain But market participants are keen to know how many times the Fed will raise rates in 2018 with market pricing fairly split between three and four hikes Deutsche Bank DE DBKGn strategist Jim Reid wrote in a note to clients Amid the uncertainty Wall Street opened slightly firmer buoyed by a jump in media stocks after Tuesday s court ruling allowing AT T s 85 billion take over of Time Warner a move expected to trigger a wave of corporate mergers Shares of the HBO channel owner N TWX jumped about 3 percent after the approval while AT T N T dropped 1 6 percent Overall stock markets were moving up but tepidly The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJI rose 18 88 points or 0 07 percent to 25 339 61 the S P 500 SPX gained 4 points or 0 14 percent to 2 790 85 and the Nasdaq Composite IXIC added 42 30 points or 0 55 percent to 7 746 09 The pan European FTSEurofirst 300 index FTEU3 rose 0 19 percent and MSCI s gauge of stocks across the globe MIWD00000PUS which has been stagnating near one month highs for about a week gained 0 09 percent Equity markets are finding it difficult to make upward progress despite reasonably good economic data said Andrew Milligan head of global strategy at Aberdeen Standard Investments Along with the Fed and other key central bank policy meetings this week fresh fears of protectionism are weighing on stocks and currencies as the U S prepares to unveil more tariffs on 50 billion worth of Chinese goods Emerging market stocks lost 0 37 percent while MSCI s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0 58 percent lower Trade tensions pressured the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar which gained 0 46 and 0 35 percent respectively versus the greenback The dollar index DXY which measures the U S currency against a basket of others fell 0 2 percent with the euro EUR up 0 29 percent to 1 1777 CRUDE INVENTORY LOWER Oil prices which had started the day in the red rose after a report by the Energy Information Administration indicated U S crude inventories fell more than anticipated last week and while gasoline and distillate stocks surprised with unexpected declines U S crude was up 0 36 percent to 66 60 per barrel and Brent was last at 76 36 up 0 63 percent on the day Gasoline futures RBc1 were up 1 1 percent to 2 1124 a gallon You tend to want to see draws in gasoline early in the summer with driving season and this is the first number that actually does that in three weeks said Bob Yawger director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York In government bonds U S Treasury yields were flat on Wednesday moving in narrow ranges with investors firmly focused on the Fed meeting Benchmark 10 year notes US10YT RR last rose 1 32 in price to yield 2 9535 percent from 2 957 percent late on Tuesday The 30 year bond US30YT RR last rose 6 32 in price to yield 3 0823 percent from 3 092 percent Tuesday Italian government bonds were in demand as well after Paolo Savona the country s new EU Affairs Minister said the euro was indispensable The comments by Savona who has previously expressed hostile views on the euro followed statements earlier in the week by Italy s new coalition government that it had no plans to leave the euro zone
In another reminder of the danger of trade disputes shares in Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp HK 0763 fell as much as 41 5 percent wiping 3 billion off its market value as it resumed trade after agreeing to pay up to 1 4 billion in penalties to the U S government |
PFE | Basilea Pharmaceutica Hat Trick | Basilea Pharmaceutica AG SIX BSLN announced a hat trick of positive news flow in June This includes two separate licensing deals covering Cresemba for invasive mould infections and Zevtera as well as triggering the allocation of 54 8m reimbursement funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority BARDA relating to the advancement of Zevtera s US phase III clinical programme for bacterial infections trials to initiate H217 Most notable is the major licensing deal with Pfizer NYSE PFE for Cresemba in Europe Russia Turkey and Israel Pfizer is the partner of choice given its long standing expertise in this market Additionally Avir Pharma has licensed both Cresemba and Zevtera for the Canadian market Our forecasts and valuation are under review we will update both post further disclosure on the PFE deal at the interim results on 10 August
Double dealings
Basilea has entered into a licence agreement with Pfizer for Cresemba isavuconazole commercialisation in Europe ex Nordics Russia Turkey and Israel The deal with Pfizer could be a game changer for Cresemba Pfizer has the expertise to manufacture and commercialise Cresemba rapidly throughout its in licensed territories using its established existing marketing infrastructure during a period where its own anti fungal Vfend has lost patent protection in key markets Under the terms of the deal Basilea will receive an upfront payment of CHF70m and will be eligible to receive up to 427m in additional payments upon achievement of pre specified regulatory and sales milestones Basilea will also receive royalties in the mid teen range on Pfizer s sales in the territories mentioned
To read the entire report Please click on the pdf File Below |
PFE | 4 Momentum Stocks To Watch | Strong technical momentum and positive news are powering some of the stocks we follow
Four To watch
Amicus Therapeutics NASDAQ FOLD performed phenomenally on Tuesday popping 2 66 or 26 to 12 92 on 24 million shares traded The move followed positive FDA submission news for the company which may have wider implications for quicker drug approvals in the wider biopharma market The expected next targets at 11 and 13 were both hit The large breakaway gap created Tuesday from an established 6 month base could be a sign that this stock is going higher The next targets are 15 and then 18 Short interest of 12 7 times its average volume could fuel the move as shorts cover on a rally
Kronos Worldwide NYSE KRO ran all the way up to 20 64 Tuesday before closing at 20 47 up 88 cents or about 4 5 to 20 47 on 1 million shares traded That s the biggest volume for the chemicals stock since its move up in early May It was also the stock s highest closing price since 2012 Price had broken out of its 50 day moving average on July 3 From here watch for an extension up to 23 24
Sangamo Therapeutics NASDAQ SGMO may have broken out of a 2 week bull flag consolidation closing up 55 cents or 6 3 to 9 25 on 1 2 million shares traded Tuesday The biopharma stock had begun its ascent when a clinical partnership with Pfizer NYSE PFE was announced in May and then continued up following a public stock offering announced in June Price has risen 112 since earnings two months ago If it extends watch for a move through 9 65 to get up to 10 25 and then into the 11 50 11 75 range
Square NYSE SQ broke out of its bull flag consolidation moving as high as 25 56 and closing at 25 44 on 17 6 million shares traded Tuesday The move came after an analyst at Loop Capital Markets suggested that PayPal Holdings NASDAQ PYPL should buy the company The mobile payments stock has gained 4 49 or 21 since May 22 and could continue higher into the 27 28 zone
No Holdings |
T | Amdocs DOX Q2 Earnings Revenues Top Estimates View Up | Amdocs Limited NASDAQ DOX reported second quarter fiscal 2019 results wherein the top line and bottom line beat estimates Quarterly non GAAP earnings came in at 1 06 per share up from 95 cents in the year ago quarter The bottom line also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 1 03 The figure matched the high end of the company s guided range of 1 to 1 06 Revenues for the reported quarter came in at 1 020 billion beating the consensus estimate of 1 016 billion and improving 2 8 year over year The top line also came within the company s guided the range of 995 1 035 billion Continued flow of new customers penetration into new regions and awards for projects and managed services drove revenue growth A positive impact of nearly 2 million year over year in foreign currency movements was a tailwind Quarter DetailsRegion wise revenues from North America 62 2 of total were 634 2 million up 1 6 from the year ago quarter driven by digital modernization requirements of many of Amdocs communications Pay TV and media customers Europe 14 8 recorded revenues of 151 million up 1 6 Rest of the World 13 generated revenues of 234 5 million up 6 8 During the quarter Amdocs worked with T Mobile NYSE S and Sprint NYSE S assuming the planned merger proceeds Recently Amdocs announced that it is rolling out the DigitalONE platform to modernize and accelerate Sprint s digital transformation Amdocs partnership with AT T NYSE T remains strong Growth areas within AT T Mobile such as Cricket prepaid in Mexico saw significant value addition by Amdocs during the quarter Deal wins including the one with Veon and a Tier 1 service provider in Spain drove revenue growth in Europe Additionally in France the company won a key modernization project for a major operator Extension of managed services agreements with several customers including Vodafone LON VOD Hungary and partnerships with Capita plc to provide digital business systems were tailwinds Revenues from Rest of the World were driven by the ramp up of new activities in APAC country such as the Philippines Malaysia Australia and Latin America During the quarter Amdocs was chosen by Telefonica MC TEF to support the launch of eSIM equipped smartphone and other devices for Vivo in Brazil Additionally the company was selected as a strategic partner to digitally transform the billing system and the processes of Safaricom enterprise billing division based in Nairobi Moreover Amdocs was selected to support the digital business of certain areas of India s entertainment platform Eros Now Management is optimistic about the 12 month backlog that reached 3 39 billion at the end of the quarter increasing 20 million sequentially The company continued to aid digital media and network transformations of its clients which improved its revenue growth rate Margins and Operating MetricsThe company incurred non GAAP operating expenses of 842 million up 2 6 from the year ago quarter Non GAAP operating income increased 3 5 to 177 8 million Operating margin of 17 4 for the quarter expanded 10 basis points year over year Balance Sheet Cash FlowAs of Mar 31 2018 Amdocs had cash cash equivalents and short term interest bearing investments of 449 7 million compared with 458 7 million recorded in the prior quarter During the fiscal second quarter the company repurchased shares worth 120 million Also its board of directors recently approved payment of a quarterly dividend of 0 285 per share The dividend will be paid on Jul 19 2019 OutlookFor third quarter fiscal 2019 Amdocs expects revenues in the range of 1 005 1 045 billion and adjusted earnings per share in the band of 1 08 to 1 14 For fiscal 2019 the company raised its revenue guidance on a reported basis It now expects revenues to grow 1 8 3 8 year over year compared with 0 5 4 5 rise expected earlier Amdocs also revised its revenue guidance on a constant currency basis It expects revenue growth between 3 and 5 compared with 2 6 projected earlier This guidance takes into account 1 2 year over year negative impact of foreign exchange fluctuations The company continues to expect non GAAP earnings per share growth of 4 55 8 5 year over year up from the earlier guided range of 3 7 rise Amdocs currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Amdocs Limited Price Consensus and EPS Surprise Will you retire a millionaire One out of every six people retires a multimillionaire Get smart tips you can do today to become one of them in a new Special Report 7 Things You Can Do Now to Retire a Multimillionaire |
PFE | Pfizer s 2015 forecast disappoints crimped by generics dollar | Reuters Pfizer Inc N PFE reported stronger than expected quarterly results as sales of vaccines and cancer drugs increased but the company forecast 2015 earnings below Wall Street expectations citing patent expirations and the stronger dollar The largest U S drugmaker said on Tuesday that it earned 1 23 billion or 19 cents per share in the fourth quarter That compared with 2 57 billion or 39 cents per share a year earlier Excluding special items Pfizer earned 54 cents per share Analysts on average expected 53 cents according to Thomson Reuters I B E S |
PFE | Puma PBYI Ends Patient Enrollment In Phase III Cancer Trial | Puma Biotechnology Inc NASDAQ PBYI announced that it has completed enrollment of patients in a phase III study to evaluate its lead pipeline candidate PB272 neratinib in combination with Roche Holding SIX ROG AG s OTC RHHBY Xeloda capecitabine for treatment of third line HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer Presently neratinib is under review in the U S as a single agent for extended adjuvant treatment of patients with early stage HER2 over expressed amplified breast cancer while in the EU it is under review for an extended adjuvant treatment of HER2 positive early stage breast cancer Puma s shares have significantly outperformed the Zacks classified industry so far this year The stock has soared 181 6 compared with the broader industry s advance of 6 4 The phase III study is designed to evaluate the use of neratinib in combination with Xeloda as against the combination of GlaxoSmithKline s NYSE GSK Tykerb with Xeloda in patients with third line HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer The trial will be conducted on approximately 600 patients at sites in North America Europe and Asia Pacific The co primary endpoints of the trial are progression free survival PFS and overall survival OS The company expects an initial data from the study in the first half of 2018 Notably the NALA trial was designed with a special protocol assessment by the FDA Subsequently the European Medicines Agency EMA has also provided a follow on scientific advice SA consistent with the FDA assessment of the design and endpoints of the study The company is also planning to develop this combination for treating patients with HER2 positive breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain and in patients with HER2 non amplified tumors that have a HER2 mutation We remind investors that the breast cancer market is heavily crowded with drugs like AstraZeneca s Faslodex Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Ibrance and Novartis s Femara among others With no approved product in the company s portfolio and neratinib being its lead pipeline candidate we expect investors focus to remain on the updates pertaining to its development A potential approval will enable the company to generate product revenues for the first time Puma Biotechnology Inc Price Zacks RankPuma currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars Here s another stock idea to consider Much like petroleum 150 years ago lithium power may soon shake the world creating millionaires and reshaping geo politics Soon electric vehicles EVs may be cheaper than gas guzzlers Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply one company stands out as the 1 stock to buy according to Zacks research It s not the one you think |
AMD | AMD Pops And May Have More Room To Run | Summary
Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD rose by 8 on Wednesday after bullish comments from an analyst at Nomura
Based on its market cycles we believe this one may have more room to run in the near term before a corrective phase of this cycle kicks in
Advanced Micro Devices AMD Stock Weekly Chart
David Wong an analyst at Nomura Instinet specializing in semiconductor stocks initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating He believes that AMD will earn 0 27 per share and 0 67 in 2020
Wong explained We think that AMD s high revenue growth and rapidly improving profitability justify what we consider to be an elevated multiple We believe that further share momentum as well as favorable mix will help drive AMD s sales growth
In analyzing the market cycles for AMD we can see the stock is clearly in the rising phase of its current cycle While it is also in a resistance zone it is relatively early in this cycle We think it may continue to rise to 31 in the near term before tailing off as this cycle matures |
AMD | Bear Of The Day SMART Global Holdings SGH | Headquartered in Newark California SMART Global Holdings SGH designs manufactures and supplies electronic subsystems to original equipment manufacturers OEMs and engages primarily in the computer industrial networking telecommunications and aerospace and defense markets SMART Global operates throughout the U S Europe Asia and Latin America
Disappointing Q2 Earnings
While earnings of 77 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents EPS declined considerably from the year ago quarter Q2 2018 earnings were 1 64 per share
Revenues of 304 million missed our consensus estimate and declined 3 2 year over year due to weakness in the company s Brazil business Net sales in SMART Global s Brazil segment fell 29 5 year over year to 147 1 million on a worsening price environment for smartphone and PC commodity memory products
However SGH s specialty memory segment saw sales increase nearly 10 from the year ago quarter to 115 6 And to its acquisition of Penguin Computing last summer the company s specialty compute and storage solutions segment posted sales of 41 3 million
On top of these weak results was a weak outlook for SGH s third quarter SMART Global expects net sales between 260 million and 270 million and adjusted earnings in the range of 34 cents and 38 cents per share Analysts were projected EPS of 90 cents per share on revenues near 332 million
Falling EstimatesSMART Global Holdings Inc Price and Consensus Analysts have since turned bearish on SMART Global with four cutting estimates in the last 60 days for the current fiscal year Earnings are expected to decline 43 for the year and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has dropped over one dollar during that same time period from 4 63 to 3 61 per share
This sentiment has stretched into 2020 though the shifting tide hasn t been as dramatic Earnings could see growth of around 6 but our consensus estimate has dropped significantly in the past two months
SGH is now a Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sell
Shares of the specialty memory leader have fallen almost 27 since January In comparison the S P 500 is up almost 16 year to date
Bottom Line
Disappointing results in the second quarter coupled with a not so stellar third quarter outlook is never a good combination
While CEO Ajay Shah points out the progress made despite a challenging business environment and there is progress like in the company s specialty memory and specialty compute segments investors were left needing more from SMART Global
If you re an investor interested in adding a computer memory or chip stock to your portfolio consider Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD AMD Shares of Zacks Rank 3 Hold AMD have gained over 60 since January and earnings are expected to grow almost 40 this fiscal year
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AMD | Advanced Micro Devices Enters Overbought Territory Is A Drop Coming | Advanced Micro Devices Inc NASDAQ AMD has moved higher as of late but there could definitely be trouble on the horizon for this company That is because AMD is now in overbought territory with an RSI value of 70 43 What is RSI RSI stands for Relative Strength Index and it is a popular indicator used by technically focused investors It compares the average of gains in days that closed up to the average of losses in days that closed down readings above 70 suggest an asset is overbought while an RSI below 30 suggests undervalued conditions are present Other FactorsYet AMD s high RSI value isn t the only reason for investors to be concerned as there has been some decidedly negative earnings estimate revisions Advanced Micro Devices stock as of late This is especially true when investors dive into some of these revisions in order to get a better picture of AMD s prospects for the near term Over the past one month investors have witnessed 1 earnings estimate revision lower compared to none higher for the current year The consensus estimate for AMD s has also been on a downward trend over the same time period too as the estimates have fallen 1 5 over the last two months If this wasn t enough Advanced Micro Devices also has a Zacks Rank 4 Sell which puts it into unfortunate company among its peers So given all of these factors investors may want to consider exiting this stock now before it falls back to Earth You can see Is Your Investment Advisor Fumbling Your Financial Future See how you can more effectively safeguard your retirement with a new Special Report 4 Warning Signs Your Investment Advisor Might Be Sabotaging Your Financial Future |
PFE | Merck Tries To Acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals For More Than 7B | By
Merck Co is near closing a deal to buy Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ CBST an antibiotics maker in a deal worth more than 7 billion reports said Friday citing company officials The deal which is expected to be announced next week comes as a part of Merck s strategy to buy mid size drug makers to expand its business
New Jersey based Merck would pay nearly 100 per share for Cubist valuing the company at nearly 7 5 billion about 34 percent more than Cubist s closing price on Friday The Wall Street Journal reported Massachusetts based Cubist makes drugs that fight infectious diseases and manufactures its flagship drug Cubicin which recorded sales of 967 million in 2013 Although antibiotics are not considered to be a lucrative option for the drug industry analysts expect that new versions could earn high profits for the companies
The deal would also allow Merck to access Cubist s medicines which are mostly used in hospitals according to CNBC
Cusbist s focus area for its products is on manufacturing drugs that could address significant unmet medical needs including diseases that lead to global pandemics according to the New York Times The company reported sales of 309 million in the third quarter of this year showing an increase of 16 percent over the last year for the same quarter Last year Cubist had also acquired smaller businesses like Trius and Optimer further expanding its foothold on antibiotics segment CNBC reported
Merck which is the second largest American drugmaker after Pfizer NYSE PFE has a market value of over 174 billion and reported sales worth 10 56 billion in the third quarter of 2014 the Times reported While the company s vaccine for cervical cancer faces increased competition its diabetes drug the largest line for the company continues to clock high sales
In October Merck also closed a deal to sell its consumer business to Bayer for 14 2 billion In June Merck bought Idenix Pharmaceuticals which makes drugs for treating human viral diseases for 3 85 billion |
AMD | Major AMD investor sells 22M shares | Mubadala Investment sold 22M shares of AMD NASDAQ AMD during yesterday s squeeze Mubadala held 57M shares last year after selling 40M shares or a 3 9 stake which was its second sale in 2017 The firm remained AMD s largest shareholder with a 12 9 stake prior to yesterday s sale AMD shares are down 0 2 premarket to 19 38 Now read |
T | AT T in talks with FTC to resolve complaint on deceptive data plans | By David Shepardson WASHINGTON Reuters AT T Inc N T said on Thursday that it is negotiating with the U S Federal Trade Commission to resolve a 2014 complaint that claimed the company offered deceptive unlimited mobile phone data plans We have decided not to seek review by the Supreme Court to focus instead on negotiating a fair resolution of the case with the Federal Trade Commission AT T spokesman Mike Balmoris said The FTC had charged that the company misled millions of consumers by charging them for unlimited data plans but reducing data speeds or throttling them if they reached certain data usage levels The FTC did not immediately comment A federal appeals court in San Francisco in February reinstated the FTC lawsuit which had been thrown out after AT T argued that it was exempt from FTC regulations and that the Federal Communications Commission had jurisdiction The Federal Communications Commission separately in June 2015 proposed a 100 million fine for AT T for misleading millions of customers about unlimited data plans The FCC has never moved to finalize the fine The FCC said at the time that it was the largest such fine proposal AT T which said it would vigorously dispute the FCC s assertions said that the FCC had previously deemed the practice a legitimate and reasonable way to manage its network and that it had been fully transparent with our customers providing notice in multiple ways and going well beyond the FCC s disclosure requirements AT T said it had disclosed its slowdown practices to consumers over bill statement notifications text messages and other means
In February FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said the appeals court decision reaffirms that the Federal Trade Commission will once again be able to police Internet service providers after the Trump administration s rollback of the Obama era net neutrality rules takes effect The 2015 net neutrality rules will expire on June 11 |
T | Trump calls for comedian Samantha Bee s firing after crude Ivanka slur | By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK Reuters U S President Donald Trump called on Friday for comedian Samantha Bee to be fired after she made a vulgar comment about his daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump on her cable television program His remarks capped a week when a debate over the language used by two television stars became an unexpected proxy for the country s political divide with Bee s liberal leaning audience on one side and fans of the sitcom Roseanne and its Trump supporting star on the other On Tuesday Walt Disney Co s ABC network canceled a revival of Roseanne after its star Roseanne Barr made a racist remark in a post on Twitter comparing a former top Obama administration official to an ape Trump criticized ABC and Bob Iger chief executive officer of Disney on Twitter but did not address the content of Barr s comments He took exception however to Bee s use of a crude term for the female anatomy to describe Ivanka Trump on her show Full Frontal on Wednesday while discussing the president s controversial immigration policies Why aren t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show Trump said on Twitter on Friday A total double standard but that s O K we are Winning and will be doing so for a long time to come Both Bee and the TBS cable network which airs the show apologized on Thursday I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night Bee said on Twitter It was inappropriate and inexcusable I crossed a line and I deeply regret it Following Trump s remarks on Friday Sal Petruzzi a TBS spokesman said there would be no further comment beyond the earlier apologies The show immediately faced a backlash from some advertisers State Farm Insurance said it had suspended its commercials We constantly review programs to ensure alignment to our programming guidelines and brand values spokesman Jim Camoriano said in a statement Autotrader also suspended its sponsorship calling Bee s comments offensive in a statement Trump s presidential candidacy was thrown into crisis in 2016 after a tape emerged of him boasting about being able to grab women by their genitalia because of his star status He had made those comments as he waited to film a segment for the TV program Access Hollywood in 2005 Trump later apologized calling it locker room banter After Roseanne was canceled the White House said the president would not defend Barr s comments but pointed to alleged media bias against the TV show which portrays a working class American family The program which originally aired from 1988 to 1997 has drawn praise from Trump since its return Its reboot featured Barr portraying a Trump voter facing off against her sister an ardent opponent of the president and tackled other issues reflecting America s political divide
TBS is owned by Time Warner Inc NYSE TWX which is seeking to merge with AT T Inc NYSE T in a move opposed by the Trump administration Disney is seeking to merge with Twenty First Century Fox Inc |
T | Exclusive U S Justice Department probes T Mobile Sprint merger effect on smaller wireless companies sources | By Sheila Dang NEW YORK Reuters The U S Department of Justice is examining how the proposed merger between T Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp could affect prices for smaller wireless operators according to two people familiar with the matter A T Mobile and Sprint merger would eliminate competition between the two carriers that have been the dominant players in selling network access to wireless companies that often serve pre paid or price conscious consumers and could lead to higher prices for those users The Justice Department which is evaluating T Mobile s 26 billion deal to buy Sprint has been speaking with small wireless operators that buy access to the major wireless networks at wholesale rates and is seeking their opinions about the merger the people said who declined to be named because the talks are confidential Antitrust investigations are a normal part of the merger approval process especially for large deals like T Mobile s A Justice Department spokesman and a T Mobile spokeswoman declined to comment Sprint did not immediately respond to requests for comment Including AT T NYSE T and Verizon there are four major U S wireless providers Since the head of the Justice Department s antitrust division recently refused to commit to keep four carriers after the T Mobile deal is completed an issue that contributed to AT T dropping its pursuit to buy T Mobile in 2011 the department s examination of the wholesale market suggests the government is giving the deal a thorough review David Glickman chief executive of Ultra Mobile and Mint Mobile two pre paid wireless brands also said Justice asked to speak with him about the merger but said he was not given additional details about what the department wanted to discuss A merger between T Mobile and Sprint without any concessions would be bad for consumers businesses and the country said Peter Adderton founder and former chief executive of Boost Mobile USA which was acquired by Sprint Adderton is no longer affiliated with Boost Mobile s business in the United States Adderton who called for formal regulation of wireless wholesale prices after the T Mobile Sprint deal was announced said it was encouraging to see the Justice Department reach out to learn about how the merger could affect businesses and consumers While AT T and Verizon dominate the U S wireless market overall T Mobile is the most popular among customers who make less than 75 000 per year and Sprint s pre paid brand Boost counts 83 percent of its users in that income range according to data from Kagan S P Global Market Intelligence data
T Mobile has 38 percent of the U S pre paid market while Sprint has 16 percent which would give the combined company 54 percent according to S P |
PFE | Epizyme Progressing Well On Two Lead Pipeline Candidates | We issued an updated research report on Epizyme Inc NASDAQ EPZM on Jun 23 2017 Currently Epizyme is a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing novel epigenetic therapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases to market Key candidates in Epizyme s pipeline include tazemetostat selective inhibitor of the EZH2 HMT and pinometostat an inhibitor of the DOT1L HMT We note that Epizyme has made significant progress with its lead candidate tazemetostat for the treatment of multiple types of hematological malignancies and genetically defined solid tumors Tazemetostat is being evaluated as monotherapy in multiple phase II studies for indications such as relapsed or refractory non Hodgkin lymphoma and in patients with certain molecularly defined solid tumors The company also announced positive interim efficacy data in June 2017 from the its ongoing phase II clinical trial of tazemetostat as a single agent treatment for relapsed or refractory patients with follicular lymphoma FL or diffuse large B cell lymphoma DLBCL grouped by EZH2 mutational status In fact these interim data findings represent an important step forward for the tazemetostat program In May 2017 Epizyme announced positive interim data on tazemetostat from the epithelioid sarcoma cohort of its ongoing phase II study in adult patients with molecularly defined solid tumors Further the company announced that it conducted a positive meeting with the FDA and has identified a path to submission for accelerated approval of tazemetostat based on the 60 patient cohort from its phase II study The company will target a new drug application NDA submission in 2018 Again in June the FDA granted Orphan Drug designation to tazemetostat for the treatment of patients with soft tissue sarcoma STS This is an important milestone for Epizyme as it advances tazemetostat through clinical development Earlier the FDA granted Fast Track designation to tazemetostat for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma FL either with type EZH2 or EZH2 activating mutations in April We note that tazemetostat enjoys orphan drug designation in the U S for the treatment of malignant rhabdoid tumors MRT The orphan drug designation applies to INI1 negative MRT as well as SMARCA4 negative malignant rhabdoid tumor of ovary MRTO Meanwhile Epizyme s second pipeline candidate pinometostat is being evaluated in a phase I dose escalation study on pediatric patients suffering from an acute leukemia with genetic alterations of the MLL gene MLL r It has an agreement with Celgene Corporation NASDAQ CELG for the discovery development and commercialization of small molecule HMT inhibitors including pinometostat in the ex U S markets Epizyme also has an agreement with Celgene for the discovery development and commercialization of small molecule HMT inhibitors including pinometostat in the ex U S markets However Epizyme s products are still several years from commercialization while several big names like Glaxo Novartis NYSE NVS and Pfizer NYSE PFE are already developing new epigenetic treatments for cancer The Best Worst of ZacksToday you are invited to download the full up to the minute list of 220 Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buys free of charge From 1988 through 2015 this list has averaged a stellar gain of 25 per year Plus you may download 220 Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sells Even though this list holds many stocks that seem to be solid it has historically performed 6X worse than the market |
PFE | Sanofi Regeneron s Kevzara Gets Marketing Approval In EU | Sanofi PA SASY NYSE SNY and partner Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ REGN announced that the European Commission has granted marketing approval to its rheumatoid arthritis RA drug Kevzara The IL 6R antibody has been approved for the treatment of adult patients in combination with methotrexate MTX with moderate to severely active RA who have had an inadequate response or intolerance to one or more biologic or non biologic disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs DMARDs such as MTX So far this year Sanofi s shares are up 22 8 better than a 15 increase for the Zacks classified industry Kevzara was approved in the U S in May and in Canada in February this year for the same indication We remind investors that the European Medicine Agency s EMA Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP had granted a positive opinion recommending marketing approval of Kevzara in the EU in April this year The marketing approval in the EU was based on results from seven phase III trials in the global SARIL RA clinical development program conducted in more than 3 300 adults with moderate to severely active RA who had an inadequate response to previous treatment regimens Kevzara demonstrated statistically significant clinically meaningful improvements in combination with conventional DMARDs including MTX in two pivotal phase III studies While Kevzara has blockbuster potential the RA market is highly crowded given the presence of treatments like AbbVie Inc s NYSE ABBV Humira and Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Xeljanz among others Moreover the patient population is huge with many patients spending years on different treatments without achieving their treatment goals With RA affecting about 2 9 million people in Europe Kevzara represents a new treatment option for patients Sanofi currently has a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Sell These Stocks Now Just released today s 220 Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sells demand urgent attention If any are lurking in your portfolio or Watch List they should be removed immediately These are sinister companies because many appear to be sound investments However from 1988 through 2016 stocks from our Strong Sell list have actually performed 6X worse than the S P 500 |
PFE | AstraZeneca s Faslodex Recommended By CHMP For 1st Line Use | AstraZeneca PLC NYSE AZN announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use CHMP of the European Medicines Agency EMA has adopted a positive opinion recommending the marketing authorisation of Faslodex fulvestrant for 1st line treatment for postmenopausal women with HR advanced breast cancer Presently Faslodex is approved for advanced breast cancer in later lines of treatment Faslodex is used to treat postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer whose disease has spread after treatment with antiestrogen medicine It is also is also approved in combination with Pfizer Inc s NYSE PFE Ibrance palbociclib for the treatment of women with HR HER2 negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer whose cancer has progressed after endocrine medicine AstraZeneca is looking to get the drug approved for the treatment of HR locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women not previously treated with endocrine therapy or with disease relapse on or after adjuvant anti oestrogen therapy or disease progression on anti estrogen therapy AstraZeneca s shares have outperformed the Zacks classified industry so far this year The company s shares have gained 27 5 compared with the industry s gain of 14 9 Coming back to the release we note that the CHMP recommendation is based on positive data from the phase III FALCON study Data from the study showed that Faslodex 500mg was more effective over Arimidex anastrozole 1mg in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in post menopausal women who had not received prior hormonal based medicine for HR breast cancer In addition the study revealed that patients treated with Faslodex experienced 2 8 months longer delay in disease worsening or death than those treated with anastrozole Notably the CHMP s positive opinion will now be reviewed by the European Commission and the final decision will be applicable to all 28 the European Union EU member countries plus Iceland Norway and Liechtenstein Also in Mar 2017 Novartis AG NYSE NVS announced that the FDA has approved Kisqali formerly known as ribociclib LEE011 for use in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for the first line treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative HR HER2 advanced or metastatic breast cancer In May 2017 another company Puma Biotechnology Inc NASDAQ PBYI announced that an FDA advisory committee recommended the approval of its lead pipeline candidate neratinib for the treatment of some breast cancers The FDA s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee ODAC committee voted 12 4 to recommend approval of neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of HER2 positive early stage breast cancer as a single agent Zacks RankAstraZeneca currently sports a Zacks Rank 2 Buy You can see Astrazeneca LON AZN PLC Price and Consensus
Sell These Stocks Now Just released today s 220 Zacks Rank 5 Strong Sells demand urgent attention If any are lurking in your portfolio or Watch List they should be removed immediately These are sinister companies because many appear to be sound investments However from 1988 through 2016 stocks from our Strong Sell list have actually performed 6X worse than the S P 500 |
AMD | Advanced Micro Devices AMD Stock Moves 1 52 What You Should Know | Advanced Micro Devices NASDAQ AMD closed the most recent trading day at 26 76 moving 1 52 from the previous trading session This move outpaced the S P 500 s daily of 0 Elsewhere the Dow lost 0 3 while the tech heavy Nasdaq added 0 25
Prior to today s trading shares of the chipmaker had gained 12 79 over the past month This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector s gain of 3 92 and the S P 500 s gain of 2 36 in that time
AMD will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release The company is expected to report EPS of 0 05 down 54 55 from the prior year quarter Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of 1 26 billion down 23 78 from the year ago period
Looking at the full year our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of 0 64 per share and revenue of 6 79 billion These totals would mark changes of 39 13 and 4 82 respectively from last year
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AMD These revisions typically reflect the latest short term business trends which can change frequently As a result we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company s business outlook
Based on our research we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near team stock moves We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear actionable rating model
The Zacks Rank system which ranges from 1 Strong Buy to 5 Strong Sell has an impressive outside audited track record of outperformance with 1 stocks generating an average annual return of 25 since 1988 The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month AMD is currently a Zacks Rank 3 Hold
Valuation is also important so investors should note that AMD has a Forward P E ratio of 40 92 right now This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry s average Forward P E of 18 87
Also we should mention that AMD has a PEG ratio of 1 47 This metric is used similarly to the famous P E ratio but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock s expected earnings growth rate The Electronics Semiconductors industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1 53 as of yesterday s close
The Electronics Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 208 which puts it in the bottom 19 of all 250 industries
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors Our research shows that the top 50 rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1
You can find more information on all of these metrics and much more on Zacks com |
PFE | Pfizer s 11 billion buyback plan deflates AstraZeneca bid hopes | LONDON NEW YORK Reuters U S drugmaker Pfizer is to continue buying back stock with the board authorizing a new 11 billion share repurchase plan deflating expectations that it will make a new bid for AstraZeneca
Shares in AstraZeneca fell 1 2 percent by 0800 GMT on Friday following the news
The largest American pharmaceuticals company whose shares gained more than 1 percent after the announcement late on Thursday said the move was in addition to the 1 3 billion remaining on its current share buyback program
Pfizer which has a market valuation of about 180 billion earlier this year failed in its 118 billion bid to buy British rival AstraZeneca It has an opportunity to make a fresh run at its target from late November under British takeover rules
Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read has said the company is continuing to look at deals but investor hopes for a new bid have dwindled recently because of the introduction of new U S tax rules
The U S government s tax proposals are designed to make it harder for American firms to shift their tax bases out of the country and into lower cost jurisdictions in Europe as Pfizer would do by buying AstraZeneca
The likelihood of Pfizer resuming its pursuit has also been diminished following the collapse of U S drugmaker AbbVie s 55 billion plan to buy Dublin based Shire as a result of the new U S tax regulations
But while investors may well view the big new share buyback as another blow to the idea of a Pfizer bid ISI Group analyst Mark Schoenebaum cautioned against reading too much into it We cannot and should not necessarily make that read across he said in a note
Reporting by Ben Hirschler and Bill Berkrot editing by Andrew Hay and Susan Thomas |
PFE | Pfizer rises 1 8 in pre market after upbeat Q3 earnings | Investing com U S pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported better than expected third quarter earnings ahead of Tuesday s opening bell sending its shares higher in pre market trade
Pfizer said adjusted earnings per share was 0 57 cents in the third quarter above expectations for adjusted earnings of 0 55 cents per share
The company s third quarter revenue totaled 12 36 billion beating forecasts for revenue of 12 26 billion
Ian Read Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated Our key in line products continued to perform well with our most recent product launches exhibiting further momentum during the quarter
Pfizer said it expected full year adjusted revenue to come in a range between 48 7 billion and 49 7 billion compared to a previous range forecast of 48 7 billion to 50 7 billion
Following the release of the report shares in Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE rose 1 8 in pre market trade
Meanwhile U S stock futures pointed to a mildly higher open The Dow futures indicated a gain of 0 45 at the open the S P 500 futures pointed to a rise of 0 55 while Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0 6 |
T | Golf Wise beyond his years Aaron clinches first PGA Tour win | Reuters South African born American Aaron Wise became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in more than a year when he clinched a three shot victory at the AT T NYSE T Byron Nelson in Texas on Sunday The 21 year old playing with a poise beyond his years in only his 26th start on tour eased away from Marc Leishman and carded a closing six under par 65 to take his maiden title I was super calm I was more nervous yesterday oddly enough Wise said in a greenside interview at Trinity Forest in Dallas Two weeks after finishing equal second in Charlotte Wise started the final round tied with Leishman but notched six birdies in a seven hole stretch from the fourth in front of a gallery including former U S president George W Bush He was never challenged thereafter and finished at 23 under 261 well clear of Australian Leishman whose final round 68 was only good enough for second place on 20 under PGA Tour rookie Wise who moved with his parents to the U S at the age of three had an outstanding amateur career and won the American collegiate championship in 2016 before turning pro He said his runner up finish in Charlotte had boosted his self belief and helped him deal with the pressure down the stretch on Sunday I felt oddly calm all day long and to pull that off and play as good as I did bogey free was awesome Wise said He is the first 21 year old to win on tour since Kim Si woo at last May s Players Championship Wise s performance certainly impressed six times major champion Nick Faldo who offered up some free advice With a swing like that don t mess with it Faldo said during the CBS coverage Scores on Sunday were low after heavy morning rain took the fire out of the course and delayed the start of play by four hours South African Branden Grace took full advantage of the conditions to match his career low round of 62 on his 30th birthday To come in with nine under is pretty special a great birthday present said Grace who tied for third on 19 under
Grace made history at the British Open at Royal Birkdale last year when he became the first player to shoot 62 in a major championship |
T | Major League Baseball roundup Ohtani Angels end Rays winning streak | Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over 7 2 3 innings allowing two runs as the host Los Angeles Angels snapped the Tampa Bay Rays six game winning streak and avoided a four game sweep with a 5 2 win Sunday Ohtani 4 1 allowed six hits and walked one Martin Maldonado hit a solo homer his second and had two RBIs Zack Cozart added two RBIs and Luis Valbuena had one for Los Angeles which snapped its season high five game skid Johnny Field clubbed a solo blast for his fourth homer of the year and Denard Span also had an RBI for Tampa Bay which couldn t build on its major league leading win streak For the second straight day Tampa Bay started reliever Sergio Romo He pitched 1 1 3 hitless innings with two walks and three strikeouts Matt Andriese 1 2 followed Romo and gave up two unearned runs on no hits and two walks while striking out one Braves 10 Marlins 9 Dansby Swanson s two run single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning capped a six run rally and gave Atlanta a wild win over Miami at SunTrust Park Swanson had been 0 for 8 since returning from the disabled list on Saturday He drove a 2 2 pitch from reliever Tayron Guerrero 0 2 into the left field corner to bring home Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki with the tying and winning runs Swanson struck out to start the inning but the Braves began to peck away against reliever Brad Ziegler Ronald Acuna Jr drove in a run with a sacrifice fly Freddie Freeman s hustle on an infield single plated another and Nick Markakis drove in a run with a single to center field Miami brought in Guerrero who walked Flowers and surrendered an RBI hit to Suzuki He walked Johan Camargo to load the bases with two outs setting up Swanson s game winning heroics Cubs 6 Reds 1 Kyle Schwarber Javier Baez and Ben Zobrist homered to back the strong pitching of Yu Darvish sending Chicago past host Cincinnati Darvish 1 3 allowed a first inning run but then shut out the Reds over the next five innings as the Cubs won three games of the four game series which included a split of a day night double header on Saturday After Scott Schebler s infield hit had given the Reds a 1 0 lead in the first the Cubs responded immediately against Reds starter Tyler Mahle 3 6 with back to back homers by Schwarber and Baez after Ian Happ had walked to lead off the top of the second Zobrist increased the lead to 4 1 in the fifth Cardinals 5 Phillies 1 Rookie Tyler O Neill hit his second major league home run one day after his first and fellow rookie Jack Flaherty struck out 13 over 7 2 3 innings for his first major league victory as host St Louis knocked off Philadelphia to split a four game series at Busch Stadium O Neill starting in left field as the Cardinals gave a day off to struggling Marcell Ozuna led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run to center field off Phillies starter Aaron Nola 6 2 who had given up only three home runs in 58 2 3 innings before Sunday and saw his winning streak halted at five games Flaherty 1 1 who recently returned to the rotation with the injury to Adam Wainwright gave up just two hits one of them Rhys Hoskins sixth home run of the season He walked just one while throwing 120 pitches Red Sox 5 Orioles 0 J D Martinez blasted two home runs and finished with three RBIs to supplement a strong start by Eduardo Rodriguez as Boston silenced visiting Baltimore It was the first multi homer game with the Red Sox for Martinez 2 for 4 who tied teammate Mookie Betts for the major league lead with 15 home runs Andrew Benintendi went 3 for 5 and slugged a two run shot as Boston won three of four in the series Rodriguez 4 1 claimed the victory striking out seven over 5 2 3 scoreless innings while allowing nine hits and walking none Baltimore starter David Hess 1 1 was charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2 3 innings Adam Jones went 3 for 4 for the Orioles who lost for the 15th time in 16 road games Mariners 3 Tigers 2 11 innings Jean Segura singled in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning as host Seattle rallied to defeat Detroit spoiling an outstanding start by Francisco Liriano Dee Gordon led off 11th by grounding a single into right field off right hander Buck Farmer 0 3 Gordon stole second base his American League leading 16th of the season and Segura grounded a single to right field Nick Vincent 2 1 pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the victory Lirinao allowed one hit in eight scoreless innings He walked three and struck out five but the Mariners tied it in the bottom of the ninth on Mitch Haniger s two run homer off closer Shane Greene Mets 4 Diamondbacks 1 Asdrubal Cabrera and Amed Rosario homered on consecutive pitches in the seventh inning as New York completed a three game sweep of Arizona at Citi Field The sweep for the Mets is their first at Citi Field since September 2016 The Diamondbacks have lost four straight and 10 of 11 Arizona left hander Jorge De La Rosa 0 2 retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh but Tomas Nido singled and Cabrera pinch hitting for starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard 4 1 smacked his third career pinch hit homer Rosario who homered for the Mets first run in the sixth followed by completing his first two homer day as a major leaguer Giants 9 Rockies 5 Brandon Belt and Nick Hundley hit back to back homers in the seventh inning to give host San Francisco the lead for good over Colorado at AT T NYSE T Park With their second straight win the Giants salvaged a split of the four game series and kept the Rockies from moving into first place in the National League West Gorkys Hernandez who began the Giants comeback with a two run homer in the fifth led off the seventh by singling against Bryan Shaw 1 2 Evan Longoria drew a one out walk after which left hander Jake McGee entered to face the left handed hitting Belt But Belt beat the percentages by homering on a 1 0 pitch for his first round tripper against a southpaw this season White Sox 3 Rangers 0 Welington Castillo had two hits and a homer and right hander Reynaldo Lopez pitched eight scoreless innings to help Chicago win its first series since late April with the win over Texas at Guaranteed Rate Field Leury Garcia had two hits and drove in two runs and Lopez 1 3 gave up two hits and retired 17 of the last 19 he faced in his longest career outing It was his first victory since Sept 22 2017 Lopez struck out eight and did not allow a hit after Carlos Perez opened the third inning with a double Texas left hander Mike Minor 3 3 gave up six hits and three runs in five innings with a season high nine strikeouts Twins 3 Brewers 1 Logan Morrison s two run single in the eighth inning put Minnesota ahead for good in an interleague victory over visiting Milwaukee Morrison came within feet of a grand slam as his single with the bases loaded off Brewers reliever Boone Logan was high off the right field wall A sharp rebound prevented him from extra bases The go ahead hit came after Logan intentionally walked Eduardo Escobar All three Twins baserunners aboard when Logan delivered his hit reached via walk two against Logan and one against reliever Taylor Williams 0 2 who took the loss Padres 8 Pirates 5 San Diego rode a four run ninth inning to its third straight win against host Pittsburgh The Pirates took a 5 4 lead in the eighth but in the ninth Jose Pirela and Christian Villanueva opened with singles against Pittsburgh closer Felipe Vazquez 2 1 Pinch hitter Cory Spangenberg reached and Pirela scored for a 5 5 tie on shortstop Jordy Mercer s throwing error Freddy Galvis bunt single brought home pinch runner Franchy Cordero for the go ahead run After a double steal A J Ellis hit a two run single to make it 8 5 Athletics 9 Blue Jays 2 Marcus Semien had a two run home run and three RBIs Daniel Mengden pitched seven scoreless innings and visiting Oakland defeated Toronto to complete a four game sweep The Athletics took advantage of four Toronto errors and other miscues to score five unearned runs Oakland finished a 10 game road trip 7 3 to move three games over 500 for the first time this season at 25 22 The Blue Jays fell to three games below 500 for the first time this season at 22 25 Astros 3 Indians 1 Lance McCullers carried a perfect game into the sixth inning and Brian McCann snapped a scoreless tie with a home run in the seventh as Houston claimed the rubber match of its weekend series with Cleveland at Minute Maid Park McCullers 6 2 breezed before Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis led off the sixth with a single to right field completing his first five frames on 57 pitches He leaned on his third pitch a changeup in his last outing but found his primary weapon against Cleveland wielding his knuckle curveball to positive results while recording six strikeouts through three innings The Astros fashioned a rally on McCullers behalf in the bottom of the seventh with Yuli Gurriel recording his second hard hit ball off Indians right hander Carlos Carrasco 5 3 to open the inning Two batters later Brian McCann followed the Gurriel single with a home run to the back of the Astros bullpen in right center field his fourth dinger of the season finally ending the stalemate Dodgers 7 Nationals 2 Yasmani Grandal Enrique Hernandez and Yasiel Puig all homered as Los Angeles defeated Washington at Nationals Park Left hander Alex Wood 1 4 went six innings and gave up two runs on three hits and even helped on offense with his first career stolen base Josh Fields got the final four outs for this second save Washington right hander Stephen Strasburg 5 4 allowed just five hits in 6 2 3 innings but two of them were homers and gave the Dodgers three runs Yankees 10 Royals 1 Sonny Gray retired the first 14 hitters and pitched eight outstanding innings while Tyler Austin hit a pair of two run homers as New York beat Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium Gray 3 3 scattered four hits struck out five and issued one walk He threw 92 pitches and recorded first pitch strikes on 22 hitters
Gray did not allow a baserunner until Hunter Dozier blooped a single to center field with two outs in the fourth inning He allowed two more baserunners when he opened the seventh by hitting Jorge Soler with a pitch and then Mike Moustakas singled Field Level Media |
T | Nashville to host 2019 NFL Draft | The city of Nashville will host the 2019 NFL Draft after the owners approved the location Wednesday morning The decision came during the league s spring meeting in Atlanta capping a lengthy push by Nashville s tourism industry The Draft will take place between April 25 27 Music group Kings of Leon and Tennessee Titans star left tackle Taylor Lewan released a short video clip on Twitter to celebrate and welcome fans to the Music City The 2020 event was also considered an opportunity for the city to host The other candidates that bid on the opportunity to host in 2019 and 2020 were Las Vegas Denver Kansas City and a combination bid from Cleveland Canton Ohio A winning city cannot host the draft in both years
The 2018 NFL Draft was held at AT T NYSE T Stadium in Arlington Texas The event was held in New York City from 1965 2014 before being moved to Chicago for 2015 16 Philadelphia hosted the 2017 draft Field Level Media |
PFE | Clovis Oncology Shares Shoot Up On Impressive Results | Clovis Oncology Inc NASDAQ CLVS
Clovis Oncology Inc CLVS a global biopharmaceutical company yesterday announced positive results from its Phase 3 Ariel 3 trial of rucaparib Rucaparib is a maintenance therapy used for the treatment of ovarian cancer
The trial reached its primary endpoints and rucaparib showed statistical significance over the placebo
Clovis Oncology Inc CEO s Comments
We are very pleased with these positive ARIEL3 topline results that strongly demonstrate the potential of rucaparib to help women with platinum sensitive advanced ovarian cancer These results reinforce the potentially foundational role of rucaparib in the management of advanced ovarian cancer as demonstrated by both investigator review and the blinded independent central review Most importantly we are grateful to the patients caregivers and investigators who participated in this study We look forward to sharing these data in greater detail at a medical meeting later this year and submitting our sNDA as rapidly as possible with the ultimate goal of making rucaparib available to more women battling ovarian cancer
CLVS Technical Analysis
CLVS opened trading yesterday at 87 73 which was up from the previous day s trading close of 59 97 equivalent to a 47 increase CLVS closed trading yesterday at 87 88 and moved down after market to 86 70 Taking a look at the daily chart we can see the last time CLVS traded above these levels we have to go back to November 13th 2015 when it traded at 99 43
Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that before the spike up CLVS had already been in an overall upward trend dating back to May 11th when it traded at 45 93 CLVS has a float of 31 22 million shares and traded 8 38 times the normal daily trading volume on Monday
For trading purposes I would like to see CLVS open trading on Tuesday above 83 00 and if it does I would be looking to take a long position at the bell My stop loss would be 0 50 from my entry position fearing anything more than that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up
Company Profile
Clovis Oncology Inc a biopharmaceutical company focuses on acquiring developing and commercializing anti cancer agents in the United States Europe and internationally Its commercial product includes Rubraca rucaparib tablet an oral and small molecule poly ADP ribose polymerase inhibitor as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with deleterious breast cancer mutation associated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies and selected for therapy by an FDA approved companion diagnostic for Rubraca
The company is also involved in the ARIEL3 and ARIEL4 confirmatory trials of rucaparib as a potential maintenance therapy and treatment for ovarian cancer trial of rucaparib in prostate indications TRITON 2 a Phase 2 single arm study in men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer and TRITON3 a Phase 3 comparative study in men with mCRPC enrolling BRCA mutant and ATM as well as engages in the various clinical studies for other indications
It distributes its product primarily through specialty distributors and pharmacy providers to patients and health care providers The company has license agreements with Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE AstraZeneca UK Limited Advenchen Laboratories LLC and Celgene Corporation NASDAQ CELG and collaboration and license agreement with Les Laboratoires Servier Clovis Oncology Inc was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Boulder Colorado |
T | AT T deal with Cohen specified providing advice on Time Warner merger Washington Post | WASHINGTON Reuters AT T s 600 000 deal with U S President Donald Trump s personal attorney Michael Cohen specified that Cohen would advise the company on its 85 billion merger with Time Warner the Washington Post reported on Thursday citing company documents Trump expressed opposition to the merger during the campaign and his administration ultimately chose to fight it with the Justice Department filing suit in November to block the agreement The case has yet to be decided The Justice Department wants AT T NYSE T to divest Time Warner s DirecTV unit or Turner networks as a condition of approving the acquisition AT T has argued that divestitures would destroy some of the consumer value of the merger Michael Avenatti an attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels revealed earlier this week that Cohen had received payments from a number of companies in 2017 and 2018 including AT T the Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd and Columbus Nova LLC Columbus Nova was listed in November 2017 as part of the Renova Group a conglomerate controlled by Viktor Vekselberg a businessman with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin On Tuesday Avenatti claimed that Cohen received 500 000 from billionaire Vekselberg in the months after the 2016 U S election Reuters could not immediately verify the claim and it was not clear how Avenatti would have knowledge of any payment from Vekselberg to Cohen AT T said on Tuesday that it had hired Essential Consultants a company linked to Cohen in early 2017 around the time of Trump s inauguration to advise it on working with the new administration On Wednesday AT T said it had cooperated fully with Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the Russia probe in November and December AT T declined to comment on Thursday s Post story and Cohen s attorney Stephen Ryan did not immediately respond to requests for comment In an email to employees dated May 9 and seen by Reuters on Thursday AT T said that in early 2017 We hired several consultants to help us understand how the president and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company including regulatory reform at the FCC corporate tax reform and antitrust enforcement The Washington Post reported that the internal documents it saw specified that Cohen would provide the company advice on its merger with Time Warner It reported that the documents showed the company turned to Cohen three days after Trump was elected seeking his help on a wide range of issues pending before the federal government It was unclear what insights Cohen a longtime real estate attorney would have been able to offer AT T on a complicated telecommunications entertainment merger the Post reported Following Trump s election corporations have paid Cohen at least 2 95 million through Essential Consultants the Post reported citing figures confirmed by the companies Essential Consultants was the same firm Cohen used in October to pay Stormy Daniels 130 000 in exchange for an agreement not to disclose her alleged affair with Trump
Novartis said this week that it had provided information about its dealings with Cohen to the special counsel |
T | Exclusive AT T CEO We made big mistake hiring Cohen chief lobbyist out | By Jessica Toonkel and David Shepardson Reuters AT T Inc N T on Friday ousted its top lobbyist and the No 2 wireless carrier s chief executive officer said in a memo it was big mistake to hire Michael Cohen President Donald Trump s personal attorney for advice on working with the Trump administration AT T paid Essential Consultants LLC a firm set up by Cohen a total of 600 000 over 2017 for advice on working with the Trump administration AT T said Cohen and others were hired to help navigate a wide range of issues including its proposed 85 billion merger with Time Warner Inc N TWX AT T said in the memo seen by Reuters The disclosure of AT T s relationship with Cohen has turned into a major embarrassment for the telecommunications company as it awaits a U S judge s decision due June 12 on whether it can go through with the purchase of Time Warner a deal that has been denounced by Trump AT T said in the memo it did not hire Cohen to lobby on its behalf The one year contract at 50 000 per month ran from January through December 2017 and was limited to consulting and advisory services AT T never asked Cohen to set up meetings with anyone in the Trump administration and he did not offer to do so it said in the memo To be clear everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate AT T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote in the memo But the fact is our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment Stephenson said in the memo he took responsibility for the Washington team s failure to vet Cohen AT T s head lobbyist Bob Quinn who oversaw the hiring of Cohen is retiring according to the memo But two sources familiar with the situation said Quinn was forced to retire The sources wished to remain anonymous because they are not permitted to speak to the media Quinn did not respond to a request for comment AT T s board of directors does not hold Stephenson responsible for the lack of vetting according to one source The AT T payments were first revealed by Michael Avenatti the lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels who also said a company owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg and other corporations paid Essential Consultants for certain services Avenatti would not say how he obtained the information Drugmaker Novartis S NOVN said on Wednesday it had a 1 2 million contract with Cohen s firm but soon realized the agreement was a mistake Essential Consultants paid 130 000 to Daniels whose real name is Stephanie Clifford days before the 2016 presidential election as part of a nondisclosure agreement that barred her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump He denies any encounter took place
Shares of AT T were up 1 2 percent to 32 25 |
T | Trump on Twitter May 11 Healthcare AT T Time Warner | The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U S President Donald Trump realDonaldTrump and POTUS
The opinions expressed are his own Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy
realDonaldTrump
Today my Administration is launching the most sweeping action in history to lower the price of prescription drugs for the American People We will have tougher negotiation more competition and much lower prices at the pharmacy counter nL1N1SI1I2 1530 EDT
The American people deserve a healthcare system that takes care of them not one that takes advantage of them We will work every day to ensure all Americans have access to the quality affordable medication they need and deserve We will not rest until the job is done 1656 EDT
Big week next week when the American Embassy in Israel will be moved to Jerusalem Congratulations to all 1939 EDT
Why doesn t the Fake News Media state that the Trump Administration s Anti Trust Division has been and is opposed to the AT T NYSE T purchase of Time Warner in a currently ongoing Trial Such a disgrace in reporting 1949 EDT
Source link |
T | Top Novartis lawyer exits over Trump attorney deal error | By John Miller ZURICH Reuters Novartis S NOVN top lawyer Felix Ehrat is leaving the Swiss drugmaker saying a 1 2 million contract he co signed with U S President Donald Trump s personal attorney was a mistake The contract with Michael Cohen s Essential Consultants the same firm used to pay porn star Stormy Daniels has distracted Novartis s efforts to improve its image Although the contract was legally in order it was an error Ehrat 60 said on Wednesday As a co signatory with our former CEO I take personal responsibility to bring the public debate on this matter to an end Novartis ended the 100 000 per month contract signed in early 2017 by Ehrat and former Novartis Chief Executive Joe Jimenez this year It was part of efforts to learn more about how the Trump administration might approach U S healthcare Novartis said U S lawmakers have demanded Novartis and AT T N T which also made payments to Cohen s firm provide details and Ron Wyden the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee has initiated an investigation Ehrat Novartis s general counsel since 2011 had been expected to leave within the next 1 1 2 years while Jimenez stepped down on Feb 1 and was replaced by Vas Narasimhan Novartis has said Narasimhan had nothing to do with the Cohen contract and Chairman Joerg Reinhardt said that the board of directors was not aware of it at the time it was signed Ehrat will be replaced by chief ethics officer Shannon Klinger who Narasimhan elevated to the executive committee this year as he made cultural change a priority Novartis said she had not been aware of the Cohen contact FRONT PAGE TEST Narasimhan called the contract a major mistake at a meeting with investors in Basel and said Novartis is developing a principles not rules based system to avert corruption There will always be a way around the rule whereas if you ask the question Is this the right thing to do are you comfortable with this being on the front page of the newspaper that s going to help get us to a better place Since 2015 Novartis has paid out hundreds of millions in settlements and fines as a result of kickback allegations in South Korea the United States and China and faces an investigation of alleged bribery in Greece A trial for another U S kickbacks case is scheduled for 2019 Novartis shareholders have urged Narasimhan to exert more moral influence over perceived ethical shortcomings that Jimenez in 2016 blamed on a results oriented sales culture and some bad actors Klinger cited changes to bonus schemes for Novartis s drug sales force that are meant to avoid potential for corruption Any one sales rep can have no more than 40 percent bonus so we think that by doing this we have also embedded our values and behaviors for our sales reps she said DEAL OR NO DEAL Narasimhan highlighted a dozen medicines in its pipeline that Novartis believes have 1 billion plus annual sales potential placing it on track to grow sales and expand profit margins through 2022 The company will also consider pruning non core operations including its U S generic pills business while weighing further bolt on acquisitions to strengthen its drug portfolio Novartis is also considering whether to spin off its Alcon eye surgery division with any move likely in early 2019 while priority areas for M A include cancer medicine cell and gene therapies liver disease and digital and data science Narasimhan made a big bet on gene therapy with an 8 7 billion deal to buy AveXis O AVXS last month But Novartis is unlikely to mimic deals such as Takeda s T 4502 62 billion takeover of Shire L SHP which are transforming the pharmaceuticals industry Chief Financial Officer Harry Kirsch said
I don t think there is a domino effect if some others were to merge or acquire large scale that our hands would be forced in any way Kirsch told analysts |
T | Trump lawyer Cohen sought 1 million from Qatar in late 2016 Washington Post | WASHINGTON Reuters U S President Donald Trump s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen asked the Qatari government for at least 1 million in December 2016 in exchange for access or insight into the Trump administration the Washington Post reported Qatar turned down Cohen s offer made weeks before Trump s inauguration the Post reported late on Wednesday citing several people with knowledge of the situation A spokesman for Sport Trinity a company co owned by Qatari investor Ahmed al Rumaihi confirmed Cohen had requested a 1 million fee in a meeting with al Rumaihi when he was head of the investments division of Qatar s sovereign wealth fund But the spokesman Robert Siegfried said the request related to the possibility of advising Qatar on investments in U S infrastructure and that at no point was access to the administration discussed The conversation was regarding infrastructure investment in the U S he said At no point did Mr Al Rumaihi or anyone else from Qatar Investments pay the requested fee nor did Mr Al Rumaihi ever entertain making such a payment Cohen s attorney Stephen Ryan did not respond to a request for comment Al Rumaihi told the Post that Cohen made the solicitation in early December at the Peninsula Hotel in New York an account Siegfried confirmed They later spoke again outside a meeting in Trump Tower in New York on Dec 12 2016 where al Rumaihi was part of a Qatari delegation that included Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed al Thani the Post reported The solicitation would be the latest such exchange offered by Cohen to be made public following acknowledgements by U S and European companies last week that they paid Cohen who was Trump s lawyer for about a decade and self described fixer for Trump Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said it had paid Cohen nearly 1 2 million U S telecommunications company AT T Inc NYSE T said it made payments of 600 000 and South Korea s Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd said it hired him for 150 000 Novartis and AT T have said they were contacted by the office of U S Special Counsel Robert Mueller about the situation in late 2017 Mueller is investigating possible collusion between Trump s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia something that Trump has repeatedly denied
At the same time prosecutors are investigating Cohen for possible bank and tax fraud possible campaign law violations linked to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels and perhaps other matters related to Trump s presidential campaign a person familiar with the probe has said |
T | Golf Leishman fires career low 61 to lead Byron Nelson | Reuters Australian Marc Leishman fired a career low 61 for a three shot lead after the first round of the AT T NYSE T Byron Nelson at its new home in Dallas on Thursday while local favorite Jordan Spieth failed to make a move World number 16 Leishman buoyed by a pair of eagles at the links style Trinity Forest Golf Club went bogey free through a 10 under round to sit three shots clear of Americans J J Spaun and Jimmy Walker Leishman took kindly to the tournament s new venue after enjoying six top 15 finishes in nine starts at its previous home at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas I would ve been this place s harshest critic just because I love that other place at Las Colinas Leishman said But I got here and looked out past the clubhouse and thought This is going to be really good I enjoyed it today Leishman could not have asked for a better start to his round as his approach from 237 yards at the par five first hole stopped three feet from the cup allowing him a tap in eagle that set the stage for a memorable day The three times PGA Tour winner whose previous career low was 62 then made birdies at the sixth and seventh holes before a scorching trip around the back nine that included four birdies and an eagle at the par five 14th Spaun who started on the 10th made six birdies over a stunning seven hole stretch of his back nine to sit with Walker one clear of a pack of eight that included Mexico s Abraham Ancer and Americans Sam Saunders and Jonathan Byrd World number three Spieth 69 the highest ranked player in the field did well to erase a bogey at the par four fifth with birdies at seven and eight but only had one more birdie the rest of the way and was in a share of 57th place The Dallas native seeking his first win this year would love it to be at his home town this week It was about as easy tee to green as I ve ever seen this place Spieth said You know the ball was running a lot you didn t have to hit a whole lot of club off the tees and without the wind That s normally the defense of the golf course So not surprised to see a low round 10 under is an incredible round anyway for Marc Not surprised to see low scores Wish I got more out of it honestly Former U S Masters champion Adam Scott seeking his first PGA Tour win since 2016 mixed six birdies with two bogeys to reach four under and a share of 23rd Japanese world number nine Hideki Matsuyama and Spanish world number 14 Sergio Garcia carded matching one over 72s to sit in a distant share of 120th place
Defending champion Billy Horschel who started on the back nine had an eagle at the par five 14th en route to a three under 68 that left him seven shots back |
T | Golf Caddies to let their clubs do the talking for a change | By Andrew Both Reuters Fresh from working for winner Webb Simpson at the Players Championship last week Paul Tesori will swap roles and swing for himself at the PGA Tour caddie tournament in Dallas on Monday Tesori played the tour for two seasons in the late 1990s but says he was too stressed on the course to give a good account of himself A shoulder injury did not help his cause His solution was to trade in his clubs for a bib and make a very good living working for players who were better at coping with the pressure of playing for pay My game and mind wasn t ready for the tour I never felt comfortable he told Reuters while enjoying a few days at home in Florida before heading to Texas Tesori says he sleeps much better now during tournaments even when his boss is in contention though it is fair to say that caddies also are under pressure to think clearly and make good decisions on the course Those who work for top players are well rewarded Tesori made nearly 200 000 at the Players Championship based on the 10 percent cut of the prize money a winning caddie typically gets He is looking forward to giving his competitive juices a workout albeit without too much pressure when he tees it up against a 100 or so fellow caddies at Trinity Forest the day after the PGA Tour s Byron Nelson is completed The caddies will play the course in the same condition as the pros same Sunday pin positions and green speeds which should give the bag men an idea of how their games stack up with their bosses Tesori shot 68 in last year s caddie tournament to finish a stroke behind winner Mark Urbaneck a part time marathon runner who can break par and still finds time to work for James Hahn Tesori says that even a scratch player like himself with a negative handicap meaning he breaks par regularly is about six strokes inferior per round to a leading tour player such as Simpson It s a pretty amazing difference said the Florida resident Tesori named half a dozen caddies with pretty mean games though there are many more who struggle judging by the results last Wednesday at the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass where about 60 percent found the water In what has become a tournament eve tradition at the Players Championship caddies are allowed to have a hit at the island green and the tour keeps a count of how many balls find the water Monday s caddie tournament sponsored by AT T NYSE T will offer a first prize of 1 500 in two categories one for scratch golfers and the other for those with handicaps three and higher And 30 000 will also be donated to charity including 20 000 to the Maximum Chances charity started by tour player Greg Chalmers and his wife Nicole The couple have an autistic son Tesori meanwhile has never regretted his decision to relinquish his erstwhile dream of being a world class player My playing mind is weak he said self deprecatingly That s why I m caddying |
PFE | Acceleron XLRN Kidney Cancer Candidate Fails In Phase II | Acceleron Pharma Inc s NASDAQ XLRN stock had gone down earlier and then regained ground by almost 5 after the company announced disappointing top line results from a phase II DART study evaluating its pipeline candidate dalantercept in combination with Pfizer s NYSE PFE Inlyta axitinib for treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma RCC Following the disappointing phase II results the company decided to discontinue further development of the said kidney cancer candidate The increase in share price despite failing the phase II study reveals that dalantercept had become a secondary priority for Acceleron while the company s primary focus is on the late stage anemia candidate luspatercept Shares of Acceleron have outperformed the Zacks classified industry so far this year The stock has soared 16 compared with the broader industry s increase of 2 6 We remind investors that Acceleron has a collaboration license and option agreement with Celgene Corp NASDAQ CELG for luspatercept Presently Celgene is conducting two phase III study MEDALIST and BELIEVE for luspatercept one for treating patients with lower risk Myelodysplastic syndromes MDS and another for the treatment of patients with beta thalassemia Results from the studies are expected in mid 2018 The phase II study was designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the combination therapy of dalantercept The study did not meet the primary end points and was unable to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in progression free survival PFS when treated with dalantercept compared with placebo plus axitinib in advanced RCC patients
The median PFS for the combination therapy was 6 8 months versus 5 6 months for placebo Moreover dalantercept plus axitinib did not decrease the rate of disease progression or death Apart from luspatercept the company has two other internally discovered therapeutic candidates currently in clinical trials sotatercept and ACE 083 Acceleron expects to initiate a phase II study with ACE 083 in Charcot Marie Tooth disease Previously the company reported positive data from a phase I study for ACE 083 demonstrating marked increases in muscle volume treated with ACE 083 We expect the investors focus to remain on the company s updates relating to the development of pipeline candidates Acceleron Pharma Inc Price
Zacks Rank Key Picks
Acceleron currently carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold A better ranked stock in the healthcare sector includes VIVUS Inc NASDAQ VVUS which sports a Zacks Rank 1 Strong Buy You can see
VIVUS s loss per share estimates narrowed down from 50 cents to 39 cents for 2017 in the last 60 days The company posted positive earnings surprises in all four trailing quarters with an average beat of 233 69
Zacks 2017 IPO Watch List
Before looking into the stocks mentioned above you may want to get a head start on potential tech IPOs that are popping up on Zacks radar Imagine being in the first wave of investors to jump on a company with almost unlimited growth potential This Special Report gives you the current scoop on 5 that may go public at any time
One has driven from 0 to a 68 billion valuation in 8 years Four others are a little less obvious but already show jaw dropping growth |
PFE | Pfizer PFE Buys Exclusive EU Rights To Anti Fungal Drug | Pfizer Inc NYSE PFE announced a deal to buy exclusive EU commercialization rights to an anti fungal treatment Cresemba from Swiss pharma company Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd Cresemba an intravenous IV and oral azole antifungal for the treatment of two serious infections invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis is presently marketed both in the U S and EU Per the deal Pfizer will be exclusively entitled to distribute and commercialize Cresemba isavuconazole in Europe including Austria France Germany Italy and the United Kingdom where Cresemba is already available However Pfizer does not have any marketing rights in Nordic countries Denmark Finland Norway Sweden Iceland or in the U S Cresemba is marketed by Basilea s license partner Astellas Pharma in the U S Meanwhile Pfizer will also be responsible for launching the medicine in additional countries mainly in Europe over this year and next However Basilea will continue to hold the marketing authorization for EU Basilea mentioned that it received an upfront payment of 70 million swiss francs from Pfizer while being entitled to additional milestones of up to 427 million and double digit royalties on salesPfizer s shares have risen 0 7 so far this year compared with an increase of 10 7 for the Zacks classified industry Pfizer enjoys a strong position in the anti infective space and markets many antifungals like Vfend Zithromax and Zavicefta Zavicefta was added to Pfizer s portfolio with the Dec 2016 acquisition of AstraZenecaplc s NYSE AZN anti infectives business The latest collaboration strengthens its position in this therapeutic market Pfizer carries a Zacks Rank 3 Hold You can see Some better ranked stocks in the large cap pharma sector are Bayer Aktiengesellschaft OTC BAYRY and Sanofi NYSE SNY both carrying a Zacks Rank 2 Buy Shares of Bayer have risen 31 this year so far while estimates for both 2017 and 2018 have risen 1 3 in the past 30 days Shares of Sanofi have risen 17 9 this year so far While estimates for 2017 have risen 3 2 that for 2018 are up 1 2 in the past 30 days3 Stocks to Ride a 588 Revenue Explosion At Zacks we re mostly focused on short term profit cycles but the hottest of all technology mega trends is starting to take hold By last year it was already generating 8 billion in global revenues By 2020 it s predicted to blast through the roof to 47 billion Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce the world s first trillionaires but that should still leave plenty of money for those who make the right trades early |
PFE | Here s What To Look For From Axovant Sciences Alzheimer s Study | Axovant Sciences NYSE AXON just and alongside the numbers gave markets and update as to the progress of its development pipeline The star of said pipeline is a drug called Intepirdine which the company is attempting to bring to market as a potential treatment for Alzheimer s disease As part of the latest release management reiterated a previously stated target timeframe for the release of data from a phase 3 study of Intepirdine when used in combination with an already approved and well established drug called donepezil
This is a bit of a controversial asset with the asset class to which it belongs having had a rocky development history to date However there is some suggestion that Axovant can buck this trend and successfully prove efficacy where others have failed to do so If this proves to be the case there is a high probability of an immediate upside revaluation for the company
Right now the company trades for just shy of 22 a share at a market capitalization of 2 4 billion If the data in question comes out as indicative of clinical benefit and just as importantly as we will get to shortly does so with a clean safety profile we are probably looking at 1 billion added to its market capitalization overnight
Of course the same can be said for failure but in the other direction
With this in mind here is a look at the drug and what we are looking out for from the data as underlying a bullish thesis
So as mentioned it s called Intepirdine and it s a selective 5 HT6 receptor antagonist The 5 HT6 receptor is a subtype of the 5 HT receptor that plays a key role in the transmission of things like serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the brain On its own it s generally regarded as what s called an excitatory receptor that is it stimulates and promotes activity However a large portion of these receptors are co localized or in other words located near to what are called GABA neurotransmitters These basically block neuroactivity so the co localization leads to the 5 HT6 receptor stimulating the blocking of neuroactivity
The idea behind a 5 HT6 receptor antagonist like this then is that it stops the 5 HT6 receptor from stimulating this blocking of activity and in turn should promote brain function
It is a pretty roundabout way of going about things but studies to date have shown that in concept at least it works In a phase II trial conducted by GlaxoSmithKline plc ADR NYSE GSK the addition of Intepirdine to donepezil in a statistically significant improvement in two of the gold standard test scales in Alzheimer s the ADAS cog scale and ADCS ADL scale when compared to patients that just took donepezil alone
The phase III that Axovant is conducting is attempting to build on this study in a larger population the FDA generally requires at least 1000 patients in an Alzheimer s study to underpin a New Drug Application or NDA and replicate the results
There are some doubts however
Other companies have tried to prove efficacy and safety in these sorts of drugs and have had a tough time doing it Most notably Lundbeck OTC HLUYY tried to combine a 5 HT6 receptor antagonist with Pfizer s NYSE PFE PF 05212377 and midway through a phase II trial found that patients were reporting elevated liver enzymes In a trial environment this isn t too much of a problem as it can be treated relatively easily If the drug was approved however and was taken as a general population therapeutic there is good chance that this elevated liver enzyme level would not be spotted early enough and could lead to permanent liver damage or worse failure altogether Lundbeck played about with the dosing to try and address the issue but the trial eventually ended up failing
What this one comes down to then is whether investors feel that it was the altered protocol as necessitated by the tolerability problems that caused the failure of the Lundbeck and Pfizer trial as opposed to any inherent problems with the drug from a clinical benefit perspective i e the drug works but not in this trial due to various protocol errors
If that s the case an Axovant position ahead of the company s releasing of its phase III data could well be justified
So what are we looking for from the data when it hits
The primary endpoint is set up to mimic that which determines the outcome of the above described phase 2 trial the one that GSK carried out improvement from baseline statistically significant when compared to placebo in the ADAS cog scale and ADCS ADL scale There are also a few key secondary endpoints that if hit would shore up the success of the primary
Of course and just as importantly we need to see a clean safety profile Specifically we don t want the drug to go down the same pathway as did Lundbeck s asset and induce elevated liver enzyme levels in patients
September 2017 is the month to watch |
PFE | 3 Biotech Stocks That More Than Doubled Year To Date | We are almost half way through 2017 and the biotech sector which had a rough and challenging 2016 has been showing signs of recovery despite some ups and downs Year to date YTD the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is up 10 4 providing a glimmer of hope to biotech investors who saw the Index sliding 19 1 in 2016 While the drug pricing issue remains a headline risk this year as well confidence in the sector has been boosted by strong results R D success and innovation FDA approvals ramp up in new product sales and continued strong performance from legacy products There is also a lot of hope that M As will pick up this year Moreover so far into 2017 the FDA has approved more drugs than it did during the same period last year Till the end of Jun 2016 the agency had approved 14 new drugs while so far this year 21 new drugs have gained FDA approval In fact the total tally for the whole of 2016 was 22 With President Trump saying that the FDA will be streamlined and the drug approval process will be much faster expectations are that there will be more innovation in the sector and maybe a surge in new drug approvals However the sector does face some challenges additional competition high profile pipeline setbacks slowdown in growth of mature products and loss of exclusivity for certain key drugs Keeping all this in mind here is a look at three biotech stocks that more than doubled YTD FDA Advisory Panel Vote Boosts PumaLos Angeles CA based Puma Biotechnology Inc NASDAQ PBYI got a huge boost last month with the company getting support from the FDA s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee for its experimental breast cancer treatment neratinib The panel voted 12 4 in favor of approving neratinib for the extended adjuvant treatment of HER2 positive early stage breast cancer based on a favorable risk benefit profile Given the positive vote chances of gaining FDA approval look pretty high While the FDA is not required to follow the advice of its advisory panels it usually does so With Puma being a development stage company neratinib s approval would be a major milestone for the stock Puma s shares are up 153 5 YTD outperforming the Zacks categorized industry which is up 2 so far in 2017
Sangamo Skyrockets on Deal with PfizerSangamo Therapeutics Inc NASDAQ SGMO another California based company saw its shares shoot up this year on the signing of a deal with pharma major Pfizer NYSE PFE The companies are collaborating for the development and commercialization of gene therapy programs for hemophilia A The exclusive worldwide collaboration and license agreement covers SB 525 one of Sangamo s four lead pipeline candidates The agreement will see Pfizer pooling its expertise in rare disease gene therapy and hemophilia with Sangamo s deep knowledge in genomic therapies Sangamo will not only get an upfront payment of 70 million it could get milestone payments of up to 475 million including up to 300 million related to SB 525 and up to 175 million for additional hemophilia A gene therapy candidates that may be developed under the collaboration Tiered double digit royalties on net sales also form a part of the deal Sangamo has fast track status in the U S for SB 525 As per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hemophilia occurs in about one of every 5 000 male births with about 20 000 males in the U S living with the disorder The Pfizer collaboration could prove to be a transformational deal for the clinical stage biotech company which is focused on translating ground breaking science into genomic therapies Sangamo s shares are up 144 9 YTD
Celyad Gets a Boost with Novartis Licensing DealBelgian biotech company Celyad NASDAQ CYAD which is focused on the discovery and development of cell therapies saw its shares moving up following the announcement of a non exclusive license agreement with Novartis NYSE NVS for the company s U S patents for the production of allogeneic CAR T cells The agreement covers two targets being developed by Novartis Under the deal Celyad could earn up to 96 million this includes an upfront payment as well as success based clinical regulatory and commercial milestone payments Celyad will also get single digit royalties based on net sales of the licensed target associated products Celyad s shares are up 163 2 so far in 2017
While Puma Sangamo and Celyad are all Zacks Rank 3 Hold stocks you can see Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana Ignited by new referendums and legislation this industry is expected to blast from an already robust 6 7 billion to 20 2 billion in 2021 Early investors stand to make a killing but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look |
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