AstraZeneca Is Not Immune to Patent Cliff

On Thursday, AstraZeneca (click ticker for report: ) posted difficult third-quarter results as the loss of exclusivity on several brands (namely Seroquel IR) and a couple divestitures drove revenue 15% lower. Core earnings per share declined 8%, while reported earnings per share dropped 50%. Still, management reiterated its full-year 2012 financial targets for earnings per share between $6.00 and $6.30 per share, and we don’t expect to make a material change to our fair value estimate at this time. The headline numbers were poor. US revenues dropped 19% in the third quarter, as a result of the loss of exclusivity of Seroquel IR, while revenue in the rest of the world (ROW) fell 12% during the period. The company noted … Read more

Lilly’s Third-Quarter Results Were Mixed; Patent Cliff Represents Major Risk

Eli Lilly (LLY) reported mixed third-quarter results Thursday that showed strong top-line expansion but a meaningful decline in earnings. The road ahead will be challenging for Lilly as it will face a host of generic competition across its top drugs in coming years, but we are sticking with our $42 fair value estimate. Lilly’s revenue jumped 9% in the quarter (4% volume) thanks to double-digit expansion from key brands like Cymbalta (up 29%), Humalog (up 20%), Cialis (up 16%), etc. and favorable exchange rates (4%). The company also noted that it saw strong growth in animal health (up 28%), China and Japan. Though the top line growth was solid, operating expenses swelled due to marketing efforts to support new launches … Read more

Update: COVID-19 Vaccine Race

Image Source: Johnson & Johnson – Second Quarter of Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation By Callum Turcan The ongoing coronavirus (‘COVID-19’) pandemic has devasted the global economy (though things are starting to improve) and has fundamentally altered daily human life. According to a draft report from the World Health Organization (‘WHO’), there were 29 COVID-19 vaccine candidates undergoing clinical trials as of August 13 along with 138 other candidates undergoing preclinical evaluation. It is a race against the clock. Unfortunately, as of this writing on August 18, there have been ~170,000 COVID-19-related deaths in the US alone according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (‘CDC’). We are optimistic that one of the many “shots on … Read more

Valuentum: Now Bearish, We’ve Been Here Every Step of the Way

Valuentum Has Been Here Every Step of the Way   From the COVID-19 top in February 2020 to the COVID-19 bottom to the massive bull run through the end of 2021, we’ve been here for you.    2022 started out to be a rough year, catching many by surprise.   But Valuentum stayed positive. When the markets headed south in June, Valuentum stood its ground. On June 14, Valuentum said that “we still believe stocks could make a “huge rebound” in the near term.   We reiterated our views a few days later and on June 19, we said that “investors shouldn’t panic during this bear market” and that “stocks remain an attractive proposition at the moment and a very attractive consideration … Read more

How the FDA’s Delay of Baricitinib Impacts Eli Lilly and Incyte

Image Source: Paul Sableman The FDA dealt Eli Lilly and Incyte an unforeseen blow recently by rejecting their marketing application for Rheumatoid Arthritis candidate Baricitinib. Where does the duo go from here? By Alexander J. Poulos an Kris Rosemann The drug approval process is chock full of pitfalls, and until regulators give the final okay, anything can happen. The widely held consensus was Eli Lilly’s (LLY) and Incyte’s (INCY) marketing application for Rheumatoid Arthritis candidate Baricitinib would be approved, but the FDA shocked everyone by issuing a complete response letter requesting further data. Where does the duo of Eli Lilly and Incyte proceed from here? Baricitinib We were optimistic the FDA would approve Baricitinib for the indication of Rheumatoid Arthritis … Read more

Top Research and Ideas You May Have Missed

Is Quant Value Giving Intrinsic Value Investors a Bad Name? Surely, you don’t believe Warren Buffett’s “style” is out of favor? By Brian Nelson, CFA I need to make sure that you’re aware of something very important. The media and perhaps many investment professionals define the concept of “value” as companies with low price-to-book (P/B) ratios, and the concept of “growth” as companies with high price-to-book ratios. This definition of “value” and “growth” and their corresponding returns have been magnified in writings throughout the media and across quantitative research, even in prestigious journals. Warren Buffett has been rallying against most quantitative applications and how “growth” and “value” are defined in popular media and quantitative research for decades.  Here’s one of the Oracle’s most … Read more

Dividend Increases/Decreases for the Week Ending December 15

Below we provide a list of firms that raised/lowered their dividends during the week ending December 15. The dividend reports of covered firms on this list will be updated shortly with the new information. To access our dividend reports use the ‘Symbol’ search box in our website header. Firms Raising Their Dividends This Week Abbot Laboratories (ABT): now $0.28 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.265. AES (AES): now $0.13 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.12. Air Lease (AL): now $0.10 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.075. Altius Minerals (ATUSF): now CAD 0.04 per share quarterly dividend, was CAD 0.03. Amgen (AMGN): now $1.32 per share quarterly dividend, was $1.15. AT&T (T): now $0.50 per share quarterly dividend, was $0.49. Balchem … Read more