After so many years, it's interesting to see that there are still a few sell-side analysts willing to stick their heads out and support Spectranetics (SPNC). More than 25 years into its life as a medical device company, Spectranetics has yet to really carve out much more than niche applications for its laser ablation products. While the company may at last be in place to deliver some meaningful cash flow leverage, it looks like valuation is already ahead of the story.
Double-Digit Growth In Q4
Spectranetics delivered 11% growth in the fourth quarter, with 12% growth in its lead management business and 13% growth in its vascular business. Sales of disposables rose more than 12%, and the company placed an additional 8 laser units in the field (taking the total north of 1,000). To be fair, that's quite a good result when compared to other peripheral vascular companies like Bard (BCR), Covidien (COV), and Cardiovascular Solutions (CSII).
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Spectranetics Still Searching For Traction In Peripheral
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Seeking Alpha: ABB - Deja Vu All Over Again
Swiss industrial conglomerate ABB (ABB) has an oddly bipolar record when it comes to its financial reports. Where most companies tend to report streaks of better than expected (or worse than expected) numbers, with ABB it's always a toss-up from quarter to quarter. Although ABB did not end the fourth quarter on a uniformly positive note, the company still looks like an interesting name for the year ahead.
Better Orders, But The Past Intrude
ABB announced that revenue rose 16% in local currencies for the fourth quarter, with organic growth coming in at an impressive 10%. That's remarkably better performance than competitors like Siemens (SI), Emerson (EMR), and Rockwell Automation (ROK), and only Eaton (ETN) and General Electric (GE) showed markedly better performance in overlapping segments.
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ABB: Deja Vu All Over Again
Better Orders, But The Past Intrude
ABB announced that revenue rose 16% in local currencies for the fourth quarter, with organic growth coming in at an impressive 10%. That's remarkably better performance than competitors like Siemens (SI), Emerson (EMR), and Rockwell Automation (ROK), and only Eaton (ETN) and General Electric (GE) showed markedly better performance in overlapping segments.
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ABB: Deja Vu All Over Again
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Updated Idea List
At long last the idea list is more or less fully updated.
I'm going to try to refresh this every month from here on...
I'm going to try to refresh this every month from here on...
Seeking Alpha: Commercial Vehicle Closer To Cruising Speed
It's been a rough road for Commercial Vehicle Group (CVGI) in recent years, but even as commercial vehicle production wobbled in late 2011, this parts and components company has been making solid strides. Not only has CVGI made real progress with its margin structure and balance sheet, but the company has taken meaningful strides to expand its emerging markets business and attach itself to strong names like Cummins (CMI) and Deere (DE).
Surprising Strength In Q4
At $226 million in revenue, CVGI exceeded analyst expectations. While "analyst expectations" is all of two analysts in this case, 43% year-on-year and 4% sequential growth is a solid result all the same - particularly given underlying unit volume in commercial trucks and off-road vehicles.
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Commercial Vehicle Closer To Cruising Speed
Surprising Strength In Q4
At $226 million in revenue, CVGI exceeded analyst expectations. While "analyst expectations" is all of two analysts in this case, 43% year-on-year and 4% sequential growth is a solid result all the same - particularly given underlying unit volume in commercial trucks and off-road vehicles.
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Commercial Vehicle Closer To Cruising Speed
Friday, February 17, 2012
Seeking Alpha: Steady As She Goes At Portfolio Recovery Associates
When it comes to buying charged-off debts and then trying to collect them, surprises are seldom ever a good thing. So it's probably just as well that Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRAA) offered few surprises this quarter. This company is always going to be controversial - the accounting is confusing for those unaccustomed to it, the IRS is investigating the company's tax calculation policies, there's more regulation and oversight coming, and it's an inherently difficult thing to collect on debt.
All of that said, PRAA is one of the best at what it does and there's more than enough room for the company to continue growing.
To read the full piece, click here:
Steady As She Goes At Portfolio Recovery Associates
All of that said, PRAA is one of the best at what it does and there's more than enough room for the company to continue growing.
To read the full piece, click here:
Steady As She Goes At Portfolio Recovery Associates
Investopedia: A Pause In Electronic Test Gives Investors Another Chance With Agilent
It is impossible to follow every good stock out there and missing good opportunities is just part and parcel of being an investor. That said, investors should always be on the lookout for a second crack at good companies. With Agilent (NYSE:A) suffering a bit from a temporary slowdown in telecom infrastructure equipment, investors may have the opportunity again to buy shares in an excellent company at an appealing price.
Fiscal First Quarter Results a Bit Disappointing
For the most part, Agilent had a good quarter but it seems more likely that the Street is going to focus most of its attention on what didn't go so well. Revenue was up about 7% as reported and more than 6% on an organic basis - below the low end of management's prior guidance range.
Read the complete piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Fiscal First Quarter Results a Bit Disappointing
For the most part, Agilent had a good quarter but it seems more likely that the Street is going to focus most of its attention on what didn't go so well. Revenue was up about 7% as reported and more than 6% on an organic basis - below the low end of management's prior guidance range.
Read the complete piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Seeking Alpha: Gilead's ELECTRON Data Brings Some Reality Back To The Hep C Market
Nothing good lasts forever and it looks like Gilead (GILD) has brought a little dose of reality back to the Hepatitis C market. While Hepatitis C plays like Pharmasset (acquired by Gilead), Idenix (IDIX), Achillion (ACHN), and Inhibitex (acquired by Bristol-Myers (BMY)) were white-hot throughout much of 2011 on investor enthusiasm for a new generation of drugs that hold promise for very nearly curing the disease, some disappointing data in a small study shows there's no perfect drug yet.
A Disappointing Result In A Tough Crowd
Gilead announced that a Phase II study of GS-7977 (the start drug acquired in the Pharmasset deal) and ribavirin failed to show efficacy in treating so-called non-responders (that is, HCV patients who have shown insufficient response to prior therapy). In fact, within 4 weeks of stopping treatment three-quarters of the patients (6 of 8) showed significant relapse and higher viral loads.
Please read more here:
Gilead's Electron Data Brings Some Reality Back To The Hep C Market
A Disappointing Result In A Tough Crowd
Gilead announced that a Phase II study of GS-7977 (the start drug acquired in the Pharmasset deal) and ribavirin failed to show efficacy in treating so-called non-responders (that is, HCV patients who have shown insufficient response to prior therapy). In fact, within 4 weeks of stopping treatment three-quarters of the patients (6 of 8) showed significant relapse and higher viral loads.
Please read more here:
Gilead's Electron Data Brings Some Reality Back To The Hep C Market
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Investopedia: TAL International One Of The Few Positive Shipping Stories
The shipping industry is full of misery these days, what with rates for tankers and bulk cargo carriers so low and numerous shipping companies finding their liquidity situation tightening badly. Container leasing a different matter entirely, though, and TAL International (NYSE:TAL) continues to build solid value for its investors.
A Respectable Fourth Quarter
Most of TAL International's fourth quarter numbers were solid. Leasing revenue rose more than 31% from the year-ago period as leasing rates for containers have stayed quite healthy. Better still, TAL isn't frittering away this demand - adjusted EBITDA rose nearly 34%, while adjusted pre-tax income climbed more than 44%.
Continue to the full article:
http://stocks.investopedia.
A Respectable Fourth Quarter
Most of TAL International's fourth quarter numbers were solid. Leasing revenue rose more than 31% from the year-ago period as leasing rates for containers have stayed quite healthy. Better still, TAL isn't frittering away this demand - adjusted EBITDA rose nearly 34%, while adjusted pre-tax income climbed more than 44%.
Continue to the full article:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Investopedia: Rackspace Has Already Racked Up A Demanding Valuation
Server hoster and cloud computing play Rackspace (NYSE:RAX) is a straightforward play on two of the biggest trends in IT today - cloud computing and big data. Unfortunately, the company has a valuation to match and it's joined the ranks of hot tech stocks. The question, then, is whether the company's service-oriented model can keep fostering the sort of growth it will take to not only stay ahead of rivals like Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) and Google (Nasdaq:GOOG), but to maintain those lofty premiums.
Really Nothing to Disappoint in Q4
To its credit, Rackspace did everything it needed to do in Q4 and then some. Revenue rose 32% when compared to last year and about 7% when compared to the third quarter. The monthly installed base rose a bit more than 1%, while the average per-user revenue rose more than 7%. The company's cloud services revenue rose 86% from last year.
Read the full article here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Really Nothing to Disappoint in Q4
To its credit, Rackspace did everything it needed to do in Q4 and then some. Revenue rose 32% when compared to last year and about 7% when compared to the third quarter. The monthly installed base rose a bit more than 1%, while the average per-user revenue rose more than 7%. The company's cloud services revenue rose 86% from last year.
Read the full article here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Seeking Alpha: Dentsply - A Great Stock, But Not A Great Price
Dental care has held up better than most analysts expected, and Dentsply's (XRAY) to decision to continue investing in the business during the worst of the downturn should put it in place to gain even more share. That said, the stock's relative outperformance has left it a little expensive when compared to the larger med-tech universe.
A Confusing Q4
Dentsply's financial press releases are never what you might call a vault of information, and this is a company where shareholders should definitely make a point of listening to the conference call or reading the transcript. That said, even with the supplementary information, this was a complicated quarter.
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Dentsply: A Great Stock, But Not A Great Price
A Confusing Q4
Dentsply's financial press releases are never what you might call a vault of information, and this is a company where shareholders should definitely make a point of listening to the conference call or reading the transcript. That said, even with the supplementary information, this was a complicated quarter.
Please continue here:
Dentsply: A Great Stock, But Not A Great Price
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