Genomic testing has been a mixed blessing for investors thus far. While progress in the lab and clinic has been significant, the investment picture has followed a pretty familiar pattern - huge enthusiasm (and overvaluation) up front, crushing disappointment, and then general apathy and pessimism. If the pattern continues, a host of commercial successes should begin to appear over the next few years.
One of the more promising molecular diagnostics companies to watch at present is Exact Sciences (EXAS) - a small biotech company in pivotal studies for its non-invasive screening test for colon cancer.
Two Years To The Starting Line
If things go to plan, Exact Sciences should be launching the Cologuard test about two years from now. As of the company's last report, there are 59 sites enrolling patients for its pivotal study, and another 20 or so should come online in the first quarter of 2012.
Read the full article here:
Exact Sciences Could Be Exactly What Biotech Investors Need
Showing posts with label Affymetrix. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Affymetrix. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Investopedia: Renewed Realism May Make Life Tech A Buy
It's easy to get sucked into the "gee-whiz" aspect of a lot of new technology, and that probably explains why bubbles are much more common in tech and health care than in industrials or transports. It's easy to dream of how gene sequencing might change the world; quite a bit harder to imagine the same from a new hydraulic component. Unfortunately, the reality is that life sciences is not the eternal growth engine that investors have long hoped.
Although investors in life sciences stocks like Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE) have seen a lot of pain as Wall Street reorients its expectations, the worst may be over. With more realistic expectations in place, it may be time to consider Life Tech as a good blue-chip play on a sector that may not be the stuff of dreams, but is hardly a nightmare. (For related reading, see A Primer On The Biotech Sector.)
To read more, please follow this link:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Although investors in life sciences stocks like Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE) have seen a lot of pain as Wall Street reorients its expectations, the worst may be over. With more realistic expectations in place, it may be time to consider Life Tech as a good blue-chip play on a sector that may not be the stuff of dreams, but is hardly a nightmare. (For related reading, see A Primer On The Biotech Sector.)
To read more, please follow this link:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Seeking Alpha: Survey - Life Sciences Could Be In For A Rough Year
Investors hoping for a quick turnaround in battered life science companies like Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN), Pacific Biosciences (Nasdaq: PACB), and Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) may want to consider new information that suggests the next twelve months could be just as bad, if not worse. A recent survey from GenomeWeb and Mizuho indicates that research labs are battening down the hatches in expectation of poor funding trends and may well be spending less money (and spending that money differently) in the near future.
The Money Tree Is Looking Bare
For all of the talk about how life science discoveries in fields like genomics and proteomics has, is, and will influence Big Pharma and biotechnology, the reality is that it is not companies like Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Novartis (NYSE: NVS) that really make up the bulk of this sector's customer base. Life sciences is really an academic lab market – and those labs depend upon the federal government for an exceptionally large percentage of their funding needs. With stimulus spending in the past and the likelihood of lower funding levels for organizations like the National Institutes of Health and sub-institutes like the National Cancer Institute becoming more and more real, the situation is starting to get a bit scary.
Read the full piece here:
Survey: Life Sciences Could Be In For A Rough Year
The Money Tree Is Looking Bare
For all of the talk about how life science discoveries in fields like genomics and proteomics has, is, and will influence Big Pharma and biotechnology, the reality is that it is not companies like Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Novartis (NYSE: NVS) that really make up the bulk of this sector's customer base. Life sciences is really an academic lab market – and those labs depend upon the federal government for an exceptionally large percentage of their funding needs. With stimulus spending in the past and the likelihood of lower funding levels for organizations like the National Institutes of Health and sub-institutes like the National Cancer Institute becoming more and more real, the situation is starting to get a bit scary.
Read the full piece here:
Survey: Life Sciences Could Be In For A Rough Year
Monday, October 10, 2011
Investopedia: Illumina Investors Get Schooled
For some time I have been warning Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN) investors that they ignored Congressional budget wrangling, and the health of state university funding, at their own peril. Apparently that all came home to roost this quarter, as Illumina announced a significant shortfall in its third quarter revenue and warned that the fourth quarter could be difficult, as well. Though Illumina is clearly a technology leader, and likely will remain so for at least the near term, its customers don't fully control their own spending and that has been an underappreciated risk factor in the stock.
Problems Come Home to Roost in Q3
After the close on Thursday, leading life sciences tools company, Illumina, announced that revenue for the third quarter was going to be well short of prior expectations. Though management has typically been conservative with guidance, and often surpassed it, revenue for the third quarter looks like it will be on the order of $235 million, well short of the $278 million average estimate and also well short of the $260 million Street-low estimate.
Read the full piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Problems Come Home to Roost in Q3
After the close on Thursday, leading life sciences tools company, Illumina, announced that revenue for the third quarter was going to be well short of prior expectations. Though management has typically been conservative with guidance, and often surpassed it, revenue for the third quarter looks like it will be on the order of $235 million, well short of the $278 million average estimate and also well short of the $260 million Street-low estimate.
Read the full piece here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Investopedia: Agilent Beaten Down To Bargain
You would think that a company with a global revenue base, diverse industry exposure and solid returns on capital would get the benefit of the doubt. But in the case of Agilent (NYSE:A), you would seem to be wrong. Agilent may not command as much respect for technology leadership as a company like Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN), but Agilent's diverse and growing business deserves more respect and investors should consider using this market pullback as a chance to buy some shares in this high-quality company.
Third Quarter Results Better than Feared
Even though there was not much sign of it in the published analyst estimates, sentiment had definitely been souring on Agilent going into this earnings cycle. Nevertheless, Agilent reported that sales grew more than 22% in the fiscal third quarter, with 19% organic revenue growth. Growth was led by the electronic measurement segment (up almost 24%), where growth in the communications business was especially strong. Life sciences delivered solid 21% growth (18% organic), and chemical analysis was the "laggard" with 16% reported and 11% organic revenue growth.
To read more, click below:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Investopedia: Affymetrix's Downward Spiral Continues
If Affymetrix (Nasdaq:AFFX) wants to be a long-term player in the future of genetic research, the company had best get its rear in gear. This latest disappointing financial performance has not pushed Affymetrix to new lows (and the stock had actually been performing quite well over the last year), but it does highlight that the company continues to struggle while rivals like Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN), Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE), and Agilent (NYSE:A) move on with their platforms.
A Disappointing Q2
After the close on Wednesday, Affymetrix pre-announced disappointing second quarter results. Instead of the consensus estimate of $75 million, revenue is going to come in closer to $64 million to $65 million. That is down about 10% from last year and the company is seeing notable weakness in its consumables business - a clear warning sign that demand for the company's microarray products is not where it needs to be.
Funding - Worse, But Maybe Not That Bad
It is fair to wonder how much impact issues with NIH funding have had on demand for Affymetrix's products. A significant percentage of Affymetrix's sales go into the academic research community and a lot of that demand is ultimately subsidized by NIH grants. While that is a legitimate concern, particularly amidst all of the debate and wrangling over the budget, it would not seem to impact Affymetrix any more than it would Life Technologies, Illumina, or Qiagen (Nasdaq:QGEN). In other words, Affymetrix has some company-specific and product-specific issues of its own right now.
Continue on via the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.
A Disappointing Q2
After the close on Wednesday, Affymetrix pre-announced disappointing second quarter results. Instead of the consensus estimate of $75 million, revenue is going to come in closer to $64 million to $65 million. That is down about 10% from last year and the company is seeing notable weakness in its consumables business - a clear warning sign that demand for the company's microarray products is not where it needs to be.
Funding - Worse, But Maybe Not That Bad
It is fair to wonder how much impact issues with NIH funding have had on demand for Affymetrix's products. A significant percentage of Affymetrix's sales go into the academic research community and a lot of that demand is ultimately subsidized by NIH grants. While that is a legitimate concern, particularly amidst all of the debate and wrangling over the budget, it would not seem to impact Affymetrix any more than it would Life Technologies, Illumina, or Qiagen (Nasdaq:QGEN). In other words, Affymetrix has some company-specific and product-specific issues of its own right now.
Continue on via the link below:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Investopedia: Illumina Lights Up Again
The go-to stock for genomics just keeps going. It's likely that a fair number of the institutions that love Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN) would stammer to explain exactly what their machines do, but they certainly know the stock is doing well.
Another Strong Quarter in the Books
Snarkiness aside, Illumina continues to deliver the sort of high-growth/low-competition story that growth investors dream about and so rarely find. Revenue rose another 47% this quarter, with sequencing sales leading the way at nearly 90% growth and sequencing consumables revenue growing about 70%. Arrays were weaker at 12% growth, but expectations were modest here anyway.
What may surprise some investors is how small Illumina still is. While this is clearly a legitimate growth stock star, the company booked about $283 million in revenue this quarter - on par with F5 (Nasdaq:FFIV) (another growth darling), but far smaller than software companies like VMware (NYSE:VMW) or Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM). Even within its own home market of life sciences, Illumina looks somewhat small when compared to names like Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE), Waters (NYSE:WAT) or Thermo Fisher (NYSE:TMO). (For more, see A Fistful Of Life Sciences.)
The full piece can be found here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Another Strong Quarter in the Books
Snarkiness aside, Illumina continues to deliver the sort of high-growth/low-competition story that growth investors dream about and so rarely find. Revenue rose another 47% this quarter, with sequencing sales leading the way at nearly 90% growth and sequencing consumables revenue growing about 70%. Arrays were weaker at 12% growth, but expectations were modest here anyway.
What may surprise some investors is how small Illumina still is. While this is clearly a legitimate growth stock star, the company booked about $283 million in revenue this quarter - on par with F5 (Nasdaq:FFIV) (another growth darling), but far smaller than software companies like VMware (NYSE:VMW) or Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM). Even within its own home market of life sciences, Illumina looks somewhat small when compared to names like Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE), Waters (NYSE:WAT) or Thermo Fisher (NYSE:TMO). (For more, see A Fistful Of Life Sciences.)
The full piece can be found here:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Illumina A Bright Spot In Its Industry
Sometimes a theme can be completely valid, and yet most investors make no money from it. Investing in bleeding edge life sciences research is a good case in point. There is no question that researchers are gaining insights every day that have already led to changes in how the medical community approaches disease and how healthcare companies approach research into new drugs.
What is more questionable is whether individual investors have profited from it all. If you invested in Affymetrix (Nasdaq:AFFX), Caliper (Nasdaq:CALP) or Helicos (Nasdaq:HLCS), you might have a very different perspective on the industry. But, if you have invested in Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN), you have done quite well over the last five years. And looking at the second quarter, it looks like those who have stuck by Illumina thus far still have a good reason to hang on.
For the complete piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.
What is more questionable is whether individual investors have profited from it all. If you invested in Affymetrix (Nasdaq:AFFX), Caliper (Nasdaq:CALP) or Helicos (Nasdaq:HLCS), you might have a very different perspective on the industry. But, if you have invested in Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN), you have done quite well over the last five years. And looking at the second quarter, it looks like those who have stuck by Illumina thus far still have a good reason to hang on.
For the complete piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Bringing Biotech To The Barnyard
Human genomics and genetic analysis gets a great deal of attention from investors and journalists. That attention is well-deserved, as a single cancer drug can be worth as much as $100,000 per year per patient. Clearly, that provides ample incentive for major drug companies to invest heavily in genomic equipment in the hopes of developing more effective drugs.
By no means is it just a pharmaceutical opportunity, either. Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq:MYGN) has built an attractive niche in gene-based cancer diagnostics, and larger players like Abbott Labs are also delving deep into molecular and genome-based diagnostics.
But why should people have all the fun? The cattle industry alone is worth about $80 billion a year in theUnited States
You can read the full piece at:
http://stocks.investopedia.
By no means is it just a pharmaceutical opportunity, either. Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq:MYGN) has built an attractive niche in gene-based cancer diagnostics, and larger players like Abbott Labs are also delving deep into molecular and genome-based diagnostics.
But why should people have all the fun? The cattle industry alone is worth about $80 billion a year in the
You can read the full piece at:
http://stocks.investopedia.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)