For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – February 11, 2010 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Ford Motor (F), Walt Disney (DIS) and Cell Therapeutics (CTIC).
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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Honda Joins Recall Parade
Following top automaker Toyota Motor Corp.’s (TM) foray into massive automotive safety recalls, Honda Motor Co. (HMC), Japan’s second biggest automaker, is heading down a similar road. Honda has recalled 437,000 vehicles on top of a recall of 514,200 vehicles last year due to a problem related to air bag inflators. The additional recall includes 378,000 cars in the U.S., about 41,000 cars in Canada and 17,000 cars in Japan, Australia and elsewhere in Asia.
The recall — about 952,000 vehicles in total — includes 2001 and 2002 year models of Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V, Pilot, Acura TL and Acura CL vehicles in the U.S., as well as the Inspire, Saber and Lagreat models in Japan. All the vehicles are manufactured at Honda’s U.S. and Canadian plants.
Honda originally announced the recall in November 2008, involving 4,200 vehicles of 2001 Accord and Civic sedans in the U.S. The recall was expanded in July 2009 to 514,200 vehicles globally, including the 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic as well as 2002 Acura TL sedans.
Honda officials stated that the air bag inflator deploys with too much pressure, causing the inflator to rupture and injure or kill the driver. The company has noticed 12 incidents in the U.S., including 11 injuries and one death, and no accidents elsewhere linked to the problem until July 2009.
The airbags are manufactured by the U.S. unit of Japan’s Takata Corp, which was not aware of any defect in their airbags supplied to other automakers. An ongoing investigation has revealed that the defect was caused by insufficient stamping pressure during the production of the inflator propellant and not by the propellant’s excessive moisture intake, as previously believed.
Automotive safety recalls are regular issues with major automakers. Last month, Honda announced a global recall of about 646,000 cars for a fault with a window switch. Last year, Ford Motor (F) completed a series of recalls affecting 14 million vehicles due to a faulty cruise control deactivation switch. However, the recent recalls have been highly focused, denting the image of automakers like Toyota.
Disney Beats Zacks Estimate
The Walt Disney Company (DIS), a diversified entertainment company, recently reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2010 results on the heels of strong results from its Media Networks segment, and effective cost management at its film studio.
The quarterly earnings of 47 cents a share outdid the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents, and jumped 15% from 41 cents delivered in the prior-year quarter. On a reported basis, including one-time items, earnings came in at 44 cents, down 2% from 45 cents posted in the year-ago quarter. In terms of earnings surprises, Disney outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 21% in the quarter and by 12% in fourth-quarter 2009.
Although double-digit growth was registered in the bottom-line due to a sustained focus on controlling costs, the top-line remains under pressure, experiencing a slight uptick of 1% year-over-year to $9,739 million.
CTIC Drug Approval Delayed
The wait for the approval of Cell Therapeutics’ (CTIC) drug, Pixuvri (pixantrone) is far from over. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting, scheduled for Feb 10, has been postponed due to bad weather conditions in the Washington region.
Cell Therapeutics is seeking FDA approval of Pixuvri for the treatment of relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) in patients who have not responded to other treatment options. The FDA usually follows panel recommendations to decide on the approvability of a particular drug. A final decision on Pixuvri would be taken by April 23.
The postponement of the FDA’s committee meeting is not the end of problems at Cell Therapeutics. In an analysis for the committee, the FDA reviewers have raised various issues related to the study design. The study that opened in June 2004 sought to enroll 320 patients. However, the enrollment was challenging and was stopped in March 2008 after enrolling 140 patients, less than half the original plan.
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