Incyte’s Ongoing Disappointments and Ultragenyx’s Exciting Development

The pharma/biotech sector, unlike other mainline industries, is driven by the clinical data readouts on the next-gen molecules in the clinical pipeline. We have witnessed many exaggerated moves with an often-binary outcome on the smaller single molecule entities, but we also have witnessed a negligible impact on the broader, more-diverse industry behemoths. We wanted to touch on a few recent data readouts to illustrate the volatile, risky yet potentially lucrative nature of the industry. By Alexander J. Poulos Key Takeaways The iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF serves as an excellent proxy for investors to gain broad exposure to a number of biotech equities, but it is not for the faint of heart. Incyte has disappointed on a number of occasions. From … Read more

ICYMI: Valuentum’s Improved Stock and ETF Web Pages

Valuentum has rolled out improved stock and ETF web pages on its website valuentum.com/. Now, subscribers can access key proprietary information on the stock and ETF web pages in addition to the customary stock and ETF reports. Dear reader, We have some exciting news that we can’t wait to share with you! At valuentum.com/, we have rolled out new stock and ETF pages that conveniently include a variety of our proprietary metrics from the Dividend Cushion ratio to the Economic Castle rating and beyond! There’s even mouseover functionality so you can learn about how we define the key metrics across our stock-selection and dividend growth methodologies. You’ll still have access to the stock and dividend reports on the landing pages, … Read more

The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds

Please select the image below to download the document. Image shown, page 1 of 14. Tickerized for Valuentum’s coverage universe.

Boeing!

Image shown: Boeing’s shares have been rocketing higher of late!  We couldn’t be more pleased with how one of our best ideas for consideration has performed: Boeing! By Kris Rosemann Dividend Gowth Newsletter portfolio idea Boeing (BA) continues its tremendous share-price run of late, hitting all-time highs following its earnings report before market open January 31. The aerospace giant turned in 9% revenue growth on a year-over-year basis, while GAAP earnings per share doubled from the year-ago period to $5.18. Free cash flow remained robust in the full-year 2017, advancing to ~$11.6 billion from ~$7.9 billion in 2016. The company expects operating cash flow to climb to ~$15 billion in 2018 (up from $13.3 billion in 2017), and its revenue … Read more

Our Overview on Merck in Light of Recent Clinical Events

Clinical data reads can have an outsize impact on the fortunes of the research-based pharma industry, irrespective of the size of the organization. We came away very impressed with the recent release from Merck and felt a timely overview of the various pharmaceutical products developed by the company would be of value to readers. By Alexander J. Poulos Third Quarter Results Image Source: Merck On October 27, Merck (MRK) released its third-quarter results. The results were met with an immediate sell-off in the shares as the pace of the clinical pipeline disappointed. To say the least, we were surprised by the aggressiveness of the sell-off–the catalyst for the leg down in the share price, in our view, is the declaration … Read more

2018 Healthcare and Biotech Outlook


Image Source: Global Panorama

2017 will undoubtedly go down as one of the most fabulous years for the stock market, and while we continue to warn of the dangers associated with the market continuing to trade at lofty valuations, we are intrigued by the outlook for big cap pharma and biotech in the near term. Changes in the US tax laws will likely have a profound impact on the industry.

Video: Quants! You’re NOT Measuring VALUE and Nelson’s Theory of Universal Value

President of Investment Research Brian Nelson defines the concept of universal value and shows how quantitative statistical methods are inextricably linked to those of fundamental, financial, business-model related analysis. Value does not exist in respective process vacuums! Value is universal. Find out why. Running time: ~10 minutes.  Tickerized for Valuentum’s stock and ETF coverage universe. Transcript Hi this is Brian Nelson from Valuentum Securities, and this is the tenth edition of a series that I call “Off the Cuff,” where I get in front of the camera and I talk for ten minutes. This is what we have to talk about today. We have to talk about this concept: The Theory of Universal Value. Value does not exist in vacuums … Read more

Divestitures Sweeping Through the Pharmaceutical Industry

Image Source: Paul Sableman There has been a notable rise in the intent of the old guard in the pharmaceutical realm to divest some non-core assets via spin-offs into new, standalone companies. We believe we are on the cusp of a trend of simplification which we feel will aid in growing the top line sustainably, something that has become notoriously difficult for big pharma. By Alexander J. Poulos Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (LLY) mentioned on its recent quarterly conference call the need to explore strategic alternatives for its Elanco animal health unit, which is suffering from sales deceleration due to a decrease in end-user demand for its products. Elanco posted sales of $2.29 billion during the first three quarters of … Read more

Novartis Gearing Up for Growth

Dividend Growth Newsletter portfolio idea Novartis continues to grow its free cash flow stream while producing a string of products still in the infancy of their respective growth curves. The pharma/biotech realm remains bedeviled with patent issues that can disrupt cash flow generation once protection is lost, causing us to look for companies positioned for a fresh leg of growth. To that end, let’s take a look at Novartis’ pipeline, near-term potential, and how it relates to its dividend health. By Alexander J Poulos Alcon Division In Novartis’ (NVS) third quarter of 2017, results released October 24, its Alcon division posted an impressive constant-currency revenue jump of 7% from the year-ago period and a 23% year-over-year increase in core operating … Read more

Upadacitinib Posts Impressive Data for AbbVie

Image Source: AbbVie In the pharmaceutical realm, the productivity of the clinical pipeline is essential to replace the loss of revenue due to an expiration of the patent life of a product. AbbVie is facing the monumental task of having to diversify away from the top-selling pharmaceutical product in the world with little in the way of assurances the transition will be a success. We are pleased with the recent data release on Upadacitinib as we view the molecule as AbbVie’s top R&D product. By Alexander J. Poulos Upadacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis AbbVie (ABBV) believes it can successfully transition its portfolio from top-selling product Humira over to its next-generation treatment. AbbVie’s Upadacitinib belongs to the novel class of JAK-1 inhibitors, … Read more