Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Berry Plastics Group Inc. (NYSE: BERY) started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) reiterated Buy and Focus List with $118 target at Argus.

Crexus Investment Corp. (NYSE: CXS) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan and cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank..

Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Fresenius Medical Care A.G. (NYSE: FMS) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ: IMGN) started as Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LF) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) reiterated Buy with $56 target at Argus.

PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU) cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

XOMA Corp. (NASDAQ: XOMA) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

JON C. OGG

DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: DUSA) is up huge, by 38% to $8.00 per share, but on thin volume after the company is being acquired by Sun Pharma for $215 million or $8.00 per share in cash.

Concur Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CNQR) posted a loss after items and its stock is down 8.4% at $59.50 this morning on 30,000 shares.

Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) posted net income of $3.7 million and said it is on target to launch its test in the first half of 2013. Not good enough! Shares are down 7.3% at $29.55.

GNC Holdings Inc. (NYSE: GNC) shares are down after news of a secondary offering surfaced after the close. Its shares are down almost 2% at $35.02.

LifeLock Inc. (NYSE: LOCK) managed to post positive earnings, and it guided earnings to $0.06 to $0.07 per share for its fourth quarter. The negativity here has remained since its IPO, but shares have recovered a bit since the analyst quiet period ended. Shares have not traded this morning but were up big last night.

Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) did not hold up well with earnings and guidance after concerns over the energy drinks’ safety profile has become controversial. Shares are down 11% at $40.00.

Palatin Technologies Inc. (NYSEMKT: PTN) is surging on news that it reported positive Phase IIb results for its Bremelanotide in a female sexual dysfunction trial. Shares are up 20% so far on thin volume. This is a very thinly traded stock and the market cap was only $25 million before the news.

Primo Water Corp. (NASDAQ: PRMW) managed to beat earnings after having been a huge disappointment since it came public. Volume is thin but shares are up 30% around $1.30 this morning so far.

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is up over 7% above $62.00 this morning after beating earnings and raising guidance.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) is down over 11% to $21.63. The company posted a narrower loss but the stock was downgraded to Sell by Cantor Fitzgerald.

Teekay Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: TNK) posted a dividend of $0.02 per share per quarter. Unfortunately, its last payout was $0.12 per share. Ouch! This shipper is down 6% at $3.20 but this one was down by over 11% at $3.00 last night.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) appeared to beat earnings and raised its dividend, but valuation is an issue here at the premium and high-end grocer. This is down over 2% to $93.75 this morning.

JON C. OGG

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.

Audience Inc. (NASDAQ: ADNC) cut to Neutral at JPMorgan, cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank and cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. (NASDAQ: BGFV) cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) started as Buy with $39 target at Lazard.

NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) cut to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) raised to Buy at Nomura.

Rock-Tenn Co. (NYSE: RKT) raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Sunoco Products Co. (NYSE: SON) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) raised to Buy at BMO.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) was removed from the prized Conviction Buy List and cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse on footwear retailers: Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) and DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) started as Neutral; Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) started as Outperform.

Credit Suisse on movie and entertainment properties: Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and National CineMedia Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) started as Outperform; Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) started as Neutral.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. has compiled a log of companies which have already signaled in press releases that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  We have previewed more than 25 companies so far and that is not even including Big Pharma names.  As of May 18, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) cover Pediatric oncology.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), the largest independent biotech that there is, recently showed updated results from a Phase 2 study showing that treatment with blinatumomab helped achieve a high-rate of complete response in 72% of adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in the study. This blinatumomab is the first of a new class of agents called bi-specific T cell engagers antibodies, which are designed to harness the body’s cell-destroying T cells to kill cancer cells.  Blinatumomab targets cells expressing CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell derived leukemias and lymphomas, such as ALL. Full results of the study will be presented during an oral abstract session on June 4 at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) recently sold off but will will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, its investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on June 4.  The company said that the data will form the basis of its regulatory filings for marketing approval of Ponatinib for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblasatic leukemia.

ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) and Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd. (Japan) will have an oral presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting featuring Phase 2 trial data with tivantinib as a single agent investigational second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma. ArQule announced that this randomized, double-blind study met its primary endpoint in January and will now present the full results from this trial, including positive data in the pre-defined c-MET high population. Additional clinical data with tivantinib will be featured in two poster discussions and two general poster sessions.

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) has recently risen on its lung cancer and melanoma results.  The company has three oral presentations at the annual meeting after having already presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012 showing that it was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients. The company has licensed selumetinib to AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) and licensed MEK162 to Novartis (NYSE: NVS).

24/7 Wall St. wanted to make a log of companies which have already signaled that they will be presenting data or that data will be presented on their behalf at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting.  The data below is as follows:

As of May 10, the total abstracts submitted were 5,264 and of those there have been 2,744 which have been accepted for presentation at ASCO.  Of those accepted for presentation, some 1,859 are going to be ‘ePublication only’ for viewers.  The breakdown for the Abstracts shows that the oral presentation is currently 257 presentations and 2,487 are listed as poster presentation only.

The most presentations accepted (203) so far are focused on Genitourinary Cancer, which covers urinary tract and male genital tract as follows: Prostate cancer; Bladder cancer; Kidney cancer; Testicular cancer; Penile cancer; Nonmalignant tumors of the urinary tract and male reproductive system; and Von Hippel Lindau disease.  As of today, the fewest accepted presentations (93) covers Pediatric oncology.

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) will have updated clinical data from the pivotal PACE trial of ponatinib, our investigational pan-BCR-ABL inhibitor in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Array BioPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: ARRY) recently noted that it “presented Phase 1 data on MEK162 in 28 patients with biliary tract cancer at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 2012. MEK162 was well tolerated and showed evidence of clinical efficacy in this patient population, including a complete response and a partial response. Stable disease was observed in 12 patients.”

Biovest International, Inc. (OTCQB: BVTI), a majority-owned subsidiary of Accentia Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: ABPI) announced in early May that the new data from the BiovaxID® Phase II mantle cell lymphoma clinical trial conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute will be presented by the NCI at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDX) previously noted that interim topline results of the Phase 2b EMERGE study of CDX-011 in patients with advanced breast cancer will be presented in a webcast on May 23, 2012 but it is not going to get in at ASCO as it noted, “Celldex anticipated presenting these topline results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Annual Meeting. Due to a clerical error in which the incorrect submission category was inadvertently selected in the on-line ASCO submission form, the abstract for the EMERGE study was not considered for acceptance. Celldex attempted to rectify this clerical error but was informed that no exceptions are made to the submission policy.”  Call this the “ASCO-less ASCO presentation.”

CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTR) will present data from its Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors, primarily soft tissue sarcomas.

Exelixis, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXEL) recently announced that cabozantinib will be the subject of nine presentations at the upcoming Annual Meeting… The company noted that cabozantinib encompasses phase 3 pivotal trials in medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Galena Biopharma (NASDAQ: GALE) will present “Safety and Long-Term Maintenance of Anti-HER2 Immunity Following Booster Inoculations of the E75 Breast Cancer Vaccine” and it will host a panel called “HER2 Targeted Cancer Therapies” which includes NeuVax update from the Phase 2 and current Phase 3 PRESENT trials.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation (OTCBB: GNBT) will be presenting data on its breast cancer treatment ambitions.

Genomic Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) recently announced that 18 abstracts were accepted for presentation at ASCO which will be highlighting Breast, Colon and Prostate progress.

ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) noted in late-April “At the upcoming ASCO meeting in June, we expect to see not only EMILIA Phase III data and new SAR3419 Phase I data, but also data from the Phase II trial evaluating the safety of trastuzumab emtansine in the adjuvant/neoadjuvant setting.”

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) has two abstracts: one covering a Phase 3 study of NKTR-102 versus Treatment of Physician’s Choice in patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, a taxane and capecitabine; a second will be NKTR-102 in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ: NLNK) announced in April that data from its HyperAcute(R) Pancreas immunotherapy and its HyperAcute(R) Lung immunotherapy as well as its D-1MT IDO pathway inhibitor will be presented at the annual meeting.

Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYC) will have two oral presentations and one poster discussion session: two oral presentations will highlight the first reporting on data from the ibrutinib (formerly PCI-32765) Phase II CLL single agent trial in treatment naïve patients and the ibrutinib Phase Ib/II CLL combination trial with ofatumumab in relapsed or refractory patients; the poster discussion session will highlight data from the ibrutinib Phase Ib CLL combination trial with bendamustine and rituximab in relapsed or refractory patients.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) will show updated information on ADCETRIS for patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL).

Here was a recent list of other stocks to watch covered by an analyst in the Denver Post.

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 61 points to 11,983.32 (-0.51%), the NASDAQ fell more than 11 points (-0.44%) to 2,686.15, and the S&P 500 fell -0.63% or more than 7 points to 1,253.23.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wedbush. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) was raised to ‘outperform’ at Zack’s and was named the firm’s Bull of the Day; Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) was cut to ‘sector perform’ at National Bank; SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) was cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) was cut to ‘underperform’ at Macquarie; and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) was cut to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie. We noted a change in the solar sector earlier today.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is up about 6.4%, at $44.04, after posting a new 52-week high earlier in the day; LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD) is down more than -6%, at $82.09; Analysts International Corp. (NASDAQ: ANLY) is up nearly 28%, at $4.67; Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN) is down -33%, at $1.22; Rosetta Stone, Inc. (NYSE: RST) is down more than -23%, at $7.77, after posting a new low earlier today; and MasTec, Inc. (NYSE: MTZ) is down -20%, at $17.52.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Alon USA Energy, Inc. (NYSE: ALJ) is up nearly 46%, at $11.40. The Israeli-based oil refiner has struck a deal to receive 25,000 barrels/day of WTI crude at its Louisiana refinery, which will give its margins a sharp boost.

DragonWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI) is up 36%, at $4.91. The company has agreed to buy the microwave business from the joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks.

SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is up nearly 37%, to $4.04. The company got a huge boost from the Chinese government’s announcement that it will ban incandescent light bulbs beginning next year.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is down more than -6%, at $27.24. The company reported better-than-expected earnings this morning, but asset sales to generate cash are causing concerns among investors.

Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) is down more than -12%, at $6.01, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.75 earlier today. The company is suspending its quarterly dividend.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) is down about -18%, at $18.02. The shares posted an all-time high earlier this week, but the stock price run-up may have exaggerated the company’s growth prospects.

Stay tuned for Monday. Boston Federal Reserve president Eric Rosengren is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

• 11:00 a.m. – Four-week Treasury bill announcement
• 11:30 a.m. – Three- and six-month Treasury bill auction
• 3:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve consumer credit report

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Paul Ausick

These become the top analyst calls of the week.  This last week there were many such calls with keen insight and some which stand out from the pack… For better or worse.

This last week’s top research calls were in shares of the following: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ); Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM); Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P); Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN); Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM); Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN); Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM); SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM); VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS); VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW); and World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE: INT).

We have included the impact and pricing data on each, as well as added in some outside trading color if applicable.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was in the news after the departure of Steve Jobs as CEO.  What is interesting is that almost every research analyst out there came out and defended Apple saying that this was mostly factored in and that the prospects for Apple remain solid.  Here were some of the calls that we saw:

• Maintained Overweight at JPMorgan;
• Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse;
• Maintained Buy at BofA/ML;
• Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Adams;
• Maintained Buy at Gabelli;
• Maintained Buy at Deutsche Bank.

The drug treats a less common form of the cancer known called systemic ALCL (anaplastic large cell lymphoma).  The ‘more rare’ and ‘rarer’ wording is the key here.  Also, the figure for the treatment used is now being set at $13,500.00.  It is going to take many treatments before the company recaptures what was called more than $500 million in R&D expenses per CNBC data during a company interview this morning.

Seattle Genetics is apparently going to make the drug, again its first commercially available drug, available next week.  The long and short of this is that brentuximab combines an antibody to target the cancer along with the effects of chemotherapy.

We looked for analyst opinion and Bloomberg showed an RBC comment noting that a conservative estimates is that the drug may reach $200 million in two years.  RBC did note that it could be larger.  Canaccord Genuity sent us some data that was much more cautious and it maintained a “Sell” rating and $10 target.

What is going to drive the sentiment here is rather simple… Dollars in versus dollars out against valuations.  The $500 million price tag and the $1.7 billion market capitalization play a part for a drug that could be a $200 million a year drug.  If the drug generates more in sales, then the caution on valuation is going to be less warranted.  Still, this values the one-product company at close to 8.5-times sales and the straight-line math puts a 2-year or 3-year cost recapture period in place.  Then will come the real profits.

The good news is that Seattle Genetics has more than $400 million in cash and liquidity on the books.  That will bolster the company for a while.  Before the effects of this approval, which was mostly expected, Thomson Reuters had estimates of $55.31 million for 2011 sales and $151.76 million for 2012 sales.

In the case of a biotech, we cannot back out a penny of the cash to derive a raw value for the company.  The cash burn and cash cushion is just too deeply required by the investment community to discount the cash from the market capitalization analysis.

If the drug generates even a 50% upside to the RBC target and manages $300 million after a couple or few years on the market without any news of prohibitive side-effects (an unsafe automatic assumption) then the company as it stands today for commercialized product will trade at more than 5-times annual peak sales and that is before the cost recapture time.

While no new treatment has been approved in more than 30 years for this indication, imagine what happens if another drug approval is granted or even if another drug approval looks possible.  The forward value comes under fire.

Here is what else the company has in its pipeline.  Brentuximab has more Phase I to Phase III trials underway for broader aspects in Hodgkin Lymphoma.  More is a s follows:

• SGN-75 for Renal cell carcinoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma is in Phase I;
• ASG-5ME    for Pancreatic and for Prostate cancers is in Phase I;
• ASG-22ME for Solid tumors is in Phase I;
• SGN-19A    for CD19+ hematologic malignancies is in pre-clinical studies,

The company shows that 11 clinical-stage ADC programs in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors are in pre-clinical to Phase II studies under ADC Collaboration.

Now you know why we refuse to value the cash and liquidity as a discounting mechanism against the market capitalization.  That cash may all be spoken for in current R&D and clinical studies as far as monetary commitments.  The good news is that this will begin to assure much-needed revenues for the company.

Before you consider that this is a bash against Seattle Genetics, it is not.  The problem that exists is that there is only so much a single drug approval can do for the total value of a company.  Shares were up after the news initially, but at 1:00 PM EST the stock is down about 2% and around the $14.70 level.  The 52-week trading range is $11.36 to $21.41.

The old trading adage is “buy the rumor and sell the news.”  This was mostly an expected outcome for approval, so investors and traders are currently following the textbook trade.  No more, no less.

JON C. OGG

Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Intrepid Potash, Inc. (NYSE: IPI) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI) Reiterated Buy with $38 target at Canaccord Genuity.
PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) Reiterated Sell with $10 target at Canaccord Genuity.
SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Raised to Hold at Auriga.
Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up nearly 13% premarket to $597.10, relative to a 52-week range of $447.65-$642.96. The Internet search giant released very impressive earnings and revenue after market close yesterday. Read about it here.

Logitech International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOGI) is down 2.4% premarket to $9.86, relative to a 52-week range of $10.05-$23.29.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) is down 6.2% to $19, relative to a 52-week range of $11.34-$21.41.