For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – August 7, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Baxter International (BAX) as the Bull of the Day and The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KG), ZymoGenetics (ZGEN) and Cephalon (CEPH).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
We believe that Baxter International’s (BAX) focus on life-sustaining products insulates its results from the current economic downturn and provide investors with good quality returns on a risk-adjusted basis.
The company has a strong product pipeline, with a number of promising products in the final stages of clinical trials. Baxter’s strong market position is demonstrated in its recent quarterly performance that came ahead of guidance, while earnings exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
We believe that investors will benefit by adding this stock to their portfolio.
We maintain our Underperform rating on shares of The Corporate Executive Board (EXBD). While Q2 EPS beat expectations, we have again lowered our full-year estimates.
The company continues to experience deterioration in its cross-sell ratio, and other key operating metrics, including contract value. Given the current operating pressures, along with ongoing concerns regarding a slowing economy, we believe the shares should trade at a discount to the peer group average.
As such, we anticipate that the company’s shares will underperform the market in the near-term.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
King Beats Zacks Estimates
King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KG) reported second-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share, 6 cents above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, earnings declined 8.6% from the year-ago quarter mainly due to higher operating expenses. Meanwhile, revenues came in at $445 million, up 12% year over year.
Although generic versions of Altace continued to impact the top-line, products like Skelaxin, Thrombin-JMI and Flector Patch — as well as the Meridian Auto-Injector and Animal Health segments — posted better-than-expected sales.
However, we note that both Skelaxin and Thrombin-JMI sales declined on a year-over-year basis. We expect Thrombin-JMI sales to continue declining due to the tough competition being faced by the product from ZymoGenetics’ (ZGEN) Recothrom, and Omrix Biopharmaceuticals’ Evithrom. Meanwhile, Skelaxin is facing stiff competition from Cephalon’s (CEPH) Amrix. King is currently facing patent challenges for Skelaxin and generic competition could enter later this year if the company does not enter into settlement agreements with the generic companies.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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