AstraZeneca’s (AZN) third quarter earnings came in at $1.68 per American Depositary Shares (ADS), well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.36 and $1.32 reported in the year-ago period. Revenues increased 10% at constant exchange rates (CER) to $8.2 billion compared to the same period last year. The primary reasons for the increase in revenues were strong US sales of Toprol-XL benefiting from generic withdrawal, US sales of its H1N1 vaccine and robust growth in emerging markets. AstraZeneca recorded strong sales across all geographies. Sales in North America, Emerging Markets and Established Markets increased (at CER) by 13%, 15% and 4%, respectively. The company expects double-digit revenue growth in Emerging Markets for the full year. Among the product categories, apart from gastrointestinal and oncology, which recorded sales decline of 1% and 10% respectively, all other segments increased their revenues. AstraZeneca recorded more than 26% of ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 10, 2009 – 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: Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA), Oracle Corp. (ORCL), International Business Machines (IBM), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Microsoft (MSFT).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

JAVA Earnings Beat, Sales Lag

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA) reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 in an SEC filing. Lower operating expenses and higher gross margin helped the company lower its first quarter GAAP loss to $120 million, or 16 cents per share from

...

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA) reported results for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 in an SEC filing. Lower operating expenses and higher gross margin helped the company lower its first quarter GAAP loss to $120 million, or 16 cents per share from a loss of $1.68 billion or $2.24 per share reported in the year-ago period and beating the Zacks Consensus estimate of a loss of 23 cents per share.  Earnings on a non-GAAP basis (excluding one-time items) rose to 2 cents per share in the quarter from a net loss of 8 cents per share in the year-ago period. Gross margin improved to 43.4% from 40.2% a year ago. Operating expenses were down 62.3% year over year, as a result of which operating margin improved to -4.5% from -55.2% in the year-ago quarter.  However, total revenue fell 25% to $2.24 billion, with both Products and ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – 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: Cisco Systems (CSCO), Intel Corporation (INTC), Dell Inc. (DELL), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s AnalystBlog:

Cisco Beats, Guides Up

Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) first quarter 2010 earnings beat the Zacks consensus by 13 cents. Revenue beat by 3.1%. Both revenue and EPS were significantly better than the guided range.

Revenue of $9.02 billion was up 5.7% sequentially and down 12.7% year over year.

...

Panasonic Corp. (PC) provided another update on the acquisition of SANYO Electric Co Ltd. (SANYY) at its Board Meeting held on Nov 4, 2009. The company announced the start of its tender offer to acquire 3.1 billion shares of SANYO (or more than 50% of the company’s total shares) for approximately $4.4 billion (403 billion yen).  Earlier, Panasonic had planned to take over all of Sanyo's shares. Panasonic had entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with SANYO in Dec 2008. The latter is a leading company in the rechargeable battery business focused on lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Panasonic is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic and electrical products, systems and components.  The tender offer is planned for Nov 5 through Dec 7 at a price of $1.4 or 131 yen per share. Goldman Sachs, Daiwa Securities SMBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (Sanyo's ...

The $6.0 billion payment made by the world's largest chip maker Intel Corporation (INTC) over a five year period through January 2007 to its largest customer Dell Inc. (DELL) -- under programs initially titled 'MOAP' (Mother of all Programs) and then 'MCP’ (Meet Competition Payments) -- has backfired on Intel. This is the basis on which an antitrust lawsuit filed recently by the New York attorney general alleging a long business relationship between Intel and Dell. Andrew M. Cuomo filed a federal lawsuit against Intel, accusing the largest chip maker of paying computer makers illegal rebates for maintaining its monopoly and preventing another chip maker, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), from gaining business with PC makers. This is not the only allegation that has been filed against Intel. In a similar case earlier this year, the European ...

Recently, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) announced that it has acquired the privately held Huxley Pharmaceuticals Inc., which possessed rights to a proprietary form of 3,4-diaminopyridine amifampridine phosphate ( 3,4-DAP), for the treatment of Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS).   Under the terms of the transaction, BioMarin has already made an upfront payment of $15 million to Huxley shareholders and will pay an additional $7.5 million upon the final approval of amifampridine for LEMS from the European Commission (EC). The EC is expected to grant its approval in late 2009 or early 2010. Furthermore, Huxley stockholders would receive up to approximately $36 million in milestone payments if certain sales and U.S. development milestones are met.   BioMarin intends to launch amifampridine phosphate in Europe in the first quarter and is looking to develop an appropriate strategy for the drug in the U.S. Amifampridine phosphate will be the first drug ...

Yesterday, Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) came out with strong third quarter financials. The company reported earnings per share of 29 cents, well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 cents and 23 cents reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased 34% to $102.6 million from $76.5 million in the corresponding period last year, driven by strong Soliris (eculizumab) sales. However, revenues increased 44% after excluding $5.3 million of Soliris sales from the third quarter of 2008 as they were associated with the previous quarter’s shipments. Soliris posted robust sales primarily due to the addition of a significant numbers of new patients in both the US and European countries. Soliris is Alexion’s only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved (approval received in March 2007) product used for the treatment of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH), a life threatening blood disorder. The drug had received European Commission (EC) approval ...

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

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Friday October 23, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

PSFT, VZ, PWRM, CSRH, HD, CVAT, MRK, AQNM, SGP

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VZ, Verizon Communications Inc.

VZ provides communication services in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Wireline and Domestic Wireless.

Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest wireless service provider, today announced a new advertising effort, “Don’t Text and Drive,” encouraging people who get into a vehicle’s driver seat to keep their hands on the wheel. Dan Mead, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Verizon Wireless, said the “Don’t Text and Drive” campaign begins next week with a mix of ads, including television, radio,

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In a filing with the SEC, Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA) announced to cut its headcount by 3,000 or 10% over the next 12 months, given the delay in getting European Commission clearance for its merger with Oracle Corp. (ORCL).  Sun said that the job cuts will affect all of the company’s major regions, including North America, Europe, Asia and emerging markets. The company expects to incur $75 – $125 million in restructuring charges over the next several quarters. The company said it will record the majority of the charges in the second and third quarters of fiscal 2010.  Oracle, the largest software company, had proposed the acquisition of Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion ($9.50 a share), which has been slowed by an ongoing antitrust review in Europe and the company is still waiting for clearance by the European Commission.  The delay in approval from the ...