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
Showing posts with label Caliper Life Sciences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caliper Life Sciences. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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.
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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.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
2010 - The Year in Med-Tech Deals
Medical technology has always been a sector with a high level of M&A activity in any given year. Large companies are always on the lookout for technologies and assets that can boost their growth rate, while a plethora of single-product/single-market outfits hope for the boon of a big-time payday. That said, 2010 was a bit of a disappointment in terms of deal activity. Though there certainly were notable deals throughout the year, the pace was slower than what most people predicted in late 2009. Perhaps, then, that means that 2011 will be an above-average year as economic recovery puts some life back into this lagging sector. (For more, see Where The M&A Action Is, And What's Next.)
The Gold Star Goes to Covidien
Covidien (NYSE:COV) was certainly among the most active players this year. Covidien started off by getting rid of most of its respiratory care business and then turning around and buying peripheral and neurovascular specialist ev3 for $2.6 billion. Shortly thereafter, Covidien decided to expand its monitoring business by acquiring Somanetics in a $300 million cash deal. Time will tell whether the company can leverage these deals into sustainably higher growth rates, but it seemed to help Covidien's stock do a little better on a relative basis. (For more, see Covidien - Better Than People Seem To Think.)
St. Jude Quietly Following the Medtronic Model
St. Jude (NYSE:STJ) still seems to carry a bad reputation from the days when it was the "other" company competing with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Boston Scientific's (NYSE: BSX) Guidant in the pacemaker and ICD business. Nevertheless, St. Jude has quietly been building an interesting collection of businesses, largely through M&A. This year, St. Jude shelled out more than $1 billion to acquire AGA Medical and its cardiac repair business - a logical outgrowth of a company with interests in heart surgery, valve replacement, ablation, and other cardiology niches.
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http://stocks.investopedia.
The Gold Star Goes to Covidien
Covidien (NYSE:COV) was certainly among the most active players this year. Covidien started off by getting rid of most of its respiratory care business and then turning around and buying peripheral and neurovascular specialist ev3 for $2.6 billion. Shortly thereafter, Covidien decided to expand its monitoring business by acquiring Somanetics in a $300 million cash deal. Time will tell whether the company can leverage these deals into sustainably higher growth rates, but it seemed to help Covidien's stock do a little better on a relative basis. (For more, see Covidien - Better Than People Seem To Think.)
St. Jude Quietly Following the Medtronic Model
St. Jude (NYSE:STJ) still seems to carry a bad reputation from the days when it was the "other" company competing with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Boston Scientific's (NYSE: BSX) Guidant in the pacemaker and ICD business. Nevertheless, St. Jude has quietly been building an interesting collection of businesses, largely through M&A. This year, St. Jude shelled out more than $1 billion to acquire AGA Medical and its cardiac repair business - a logical outgrowth of a company with interests in heart surgery, valve replacement, ablation, and other cardiology niches.
Click below to continue:
http://stocks.investopedia.
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