For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 26, 2010 – Zacks Equity Research highlights Statoil SA – ADR (STO) as the Bull of the Day and Amerisafe Inc. (AMSF) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OSIP), AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVEO) and Roche group (RHHBY).
Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=5506
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
We are upgrading Statoil SA – ADR (STO) to Outperform from Neutral ahead of the quarterly results. Statoil is gaining momentum with the start-up of operations on several new oil and gas fields.
The company is also planning turnarounds on several oil and gas fields in 2010 to improve recovery of resources in mature fields. We like Statoil for its strong finances, relatively improved asset base over its peers and significant exploration initiatives in the North Sea.
The recent spin-off of its retail arm is a catalyst for long-term growth. Statoil remains focused on improving returns on capital employed (ROCE) by maintaining disciplined capital outlays and reducing operating costs.
Given the critical sustainability factor in the current sluggish economic recovery, we are downgrading Amerisafe Inc. (AMSF) to Underperform. The company’s fourth quarter earnings were substantially lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
The downside was primarily a result of a year-over-year decrease in the top line due to the soft insurance market condition as a whole and an increase in expenses. Further, the combined ratio and operating ROE significantly deteriorated from the year-ago quarter.
On the other hand, though the pricing environment is now improving somewhat, the company is expected to face an uncertainty for the next few quarters as the market weakness continues to hurt payrolls.
Latest Posts on the Zacks Analyst Blog:
OSI Pharma Tops Zacks Consensus
OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s(OSIP) first quarter 2010 earnings (excluding special items) of 63 cents per share exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 34 cents. This was also ahead of the year ago earnings (excluding special items) of 58 cents.
On a reported basis, the company earned 8 cents per share for the reported quarter compared to 28 cents earned in the year-ago quarter. The sharp decline was attributable to $11 million incurred in connection with the Astellas (a Japanese drugmaker) offer coupled with an $8 million impairment charge from its stake in AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AVEO).
Total revenues for the quarter came in at approximately $107 million as against $94 million in the year-ago quarter. The company’s top growth driver Tarceva contributed a major portion of the revenues. Tarceva related revenues in the quarter climbed 9.5% year-over-year to $92 million.
Tarceva is promoted in the U.S. by both OSI and Genentech (now a part of the Roche group (RHHBY)). Internationally the drug is marketed by Roche Holdings and OSIP receives substantial royalty on international sales. Globally, the total net sales of Tarceva stood at approximately $308 million, as reported by Roche, up 10% year-over-year. Of this, U.S. Tarceva sales in the quarter climbed 2.7% year-over-year to $114 million.
Other revenues in the reported quarter climbed 40% year-over-year to $14 million, including royalties of $13 million compared with $9 million last year.
Get the full analysis of all these stocks by going to http://at.zacks.com/?id=5507.
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Every day, the analysts at Zacks Equity Research select two stocks that are likely to outperform (Bull) or underperform (Bear) the markets over the next 3-6 months.
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