24/7 Wall St. » BIOD

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades (ARO, ARRS, BIOD, XCO, INCY, LEAP, MPEL, PCS, SANM, S, TC, VZ)

Administrator — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:05:34 +0000

These are some of this Tuesday’s key analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen in Wall Street research calls.

Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) Cut to Underweight at KeyBanc.
Arris Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRS) Started as Hold at Needham.
Biodel, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOD) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Neutral at Ledanberg Thalmann.
EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.
Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) Cut to Market Perform at Leerink Swann.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Started as Market Perform at William Blair.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Raised to Buy at CLSA (Asia).
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) Started as Market Perform at William Blair.
Sanmina-SCI Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) Cut to Hold at Collins Stewart.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) Started as Underperform at William Blair.
Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. (NYSE: TC) Raised to Outperform at RBC.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) Started as Market Perform at William Blair.

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JON C. OGG

Filed under: Analyst Calls Tagged: ARO, ARRS, BIOD, INCY, LEAP, MPEL, PCS, S, SANM, TC, VZ, XCO

Top Active Trader Alert Stocks (ABK, ANPI, AVNR, BIOD, XCO, FTNT, SIRI, VVUS, YRCW)

Administrator — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:59:06 +0000

Active traders and day traders have many stocks to choose from this Monday morning. We are tracking news and moves in shares of Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK), Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI), Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AVNR), Biodel Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOD), EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO), Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) and YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW).

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) missed an interest payment and warned that bankruptcy filing is near; shares are getting crushed by 43% at $0.47 in very active trading.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ANPI) is down after word of a recapitalization. Shares are down 27% at $0.37, a new 52-week low as the prior range was $0.40 to $1.45.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AVNR) is soaring after its drug called Nuedexta won FDA approval for uncontrolled laughing and crying. Shares are up a whopping 123% at $5.40 and that is above the old 52-week range of $1.31 to $3.73.

Biodel Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOD) is visiting bio-hell. The FDA issued a Complete response letter over its Linjeta application for type-1 and type-2 diabetes. Shares are down 52% at $1.75 and the 900,000+ shares traded in the pre-market is already above an average day’s volume of 872,000 shares. Mark a 52-week low here as the prior range was $3.22 to $6.25.

EXCO Resources Inc. (NYSE: XCO) is surging after its CEO made a $4.36 billion offer to take the independent oil and gas company private. Shares are up 38% at $20.49 on more than 7 million shares. The prior 52-week range was $13.25 to $22.52.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) is surging on reports that IBM is making an acquisition offer for the company. Shares are up 26% at $38.00 in thin volume trading; the 52-week range is $14.72 to $31.65.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was an options-watch stock for the week ahead of earnings, but shares are hitting new 52-week highs after Seeking Alpha wrote that it will join the NASDAQ 100 in December. Shares are up 3.3% at $1.55 on over 1 million shares, while the prior 52-week range is $0.56 to $1.50.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is playing a bit of a give-back after Friday’s ‘bad news that was good news’ from the FDA denial. Shares are down 4.5% at $7.40.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is trading higher after the Teamsters approved a third round of concessions. Shares are up 20% at $4.41 versus a split-adjusted 52-week range of $2.50 to $106.25.

Also, here is the unusual options activity from Friday that are trades which will carry over into this week and beyond.

JON C. OGG

Filed under: General Tagged: ABK, ANPI, AVNR, BIOD, FTNT, SIRI, VVUS, XCO, YRCW

Biodel Trades Down Close To Net Asset Value (BIOD)

247wallst — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:55:17 +0000

If you just read headlines on Biodel Inc. (Nasdaq: BIOD) this morning, you would have thought the news coming out of the company was either good or just neutral. Today was the exact opposite, and was an example of how dangerous it can be in merely glancing over data in biotech and emerging drug companies. Biodel’s pivotal Phase III trials for VIAject met the primary endpoint of non-inferiority and results which demonstrated statistically significant reductions in hypoglycemic events and weight gain in Type 1 and 2 diabetes patients. But there are problems with the data which were confusing.

For instance, the Type 2diabetes patients showed a 0.7 pound weight gain over 26 weeks and Type1 patients lost 0.7 pounds over that period. There were also test results seen in India that did not coincide withresults in the US and Germany, which had to be excluded from the study.In both of the clinical trials, swelling, itching and redness werereported in less than 5% of patients receiving VIAject or RHI. VIAjectwas associated with injection site pain, the prevalence of whichdecreased with time. A combined total of 24 VIAject patients droppedout of the two clinical trials due to injection site pain.

The company said it was pleased with the decreases seen in hypoglycemicevents and over those receiving insulin alone. Wall Street was aspleased as a someone sitting on broken glass.

We gave an alert at Volume Spike early on this one. The stock closed closed downabout 66% today at $5.75 and we saw exponential volume growth withalmost 7 million shares trading hands today. The prior 52-week tradingrange was $9.60 to $25.69. At one point shares were down as low as $4.34.

With a $134 million market cap after today’s implosion, the stocktrades at about 1.3 times its last stated net tangible assets as ofJune 30. Some biotechs implode to the point that they actuallytrade under their cash values because Wall Street discounts the nexttwo to three quarters of anticipated cash burn on top of the new legalexpenses. If that happens here, shares of Biodel still have some extrabeatings coming.

Jon C. Ogg
September 8, 2008

The 52-Week Low Club 9/8/2008 (FRE)(FNM)(BIOD)(AUTH)(CEGE)

247wallst — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:55:14 +0000

Freddie Mac (FRE) is one sale at $.65. A day-trader’s dream, down from a 52-week high of $65.88.

Fannie Mae (FNM) Almost a better deal. Sells off to $.65 from 52-week high of $68.60.

Biodel (BIOD) Concerns over drug trial. Drops to $4.34 from $25.69.

Authentec (AUTH) Revises guidance. Plunges to $2.40 from 52-week high of $19.81.

Cell Genesys (CEGE) Still hurting a week after drug trial news. Slips to $.67 from 52-week high of $4.67.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Biodel & Backers Tapping Cash Via Equity Sale (BIOD)

247wallst — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:45:43 +0000

Biodel Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOD) has filed with the SEC to sell up to 8.5 million shares of common stock. The company will sell 5.5 million of the shares and 3 million of the shares being sold will come from shareholders who were pre-IPO backers of the company..

The company will use the proceeds it receives for general corporate purposes, but it will not receive any proceeds of the shares being sold by shareholders. The firm did not list formal underwriters for the offering. Shares are trading down roughly 8% pre-market at $17.00 and the 52-week trading range is $9.60 to $25.69.

Jon C. Ogg
August 25, 2008

Top 10 Pre-Market Analyst Calls (ABX, BIOD, FTK, GLNG, OSG, TEF, PAR, UPL, XLNX)

247wallst — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:55:34 +0000

Below are the top 10 individual analyst calls we are focusing on this morning:

Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) downgraded to neutral at Credit Suisse.
Biodel (NASDAQ: BIOD) started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Flotek Ind. (NYSE: FTK) started as Outperform at bear Stearns.
Golar LNG (NASDAQ: GLNG) downgraded to Hold at Jefferies and downgraded to Market Perform at FBR.
Overseas Shipholding (NYSE: OSG) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
Telefonica SA (NYSE: TEF) raised to Buy at UBS.
3Par (NYSE: PAR) started as Buy at Merriman Curhan Ford.
Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
February 27, 2008