Auspex Pharmaceuticals reported year-end operating results on Thursday afternoon, March 27, in the company’s first update since its initial public offering last month. We largely view the company’s financial results over the next several quarters as less important than the ongoing development of SD-809, which is currently in a broad clinical program in three indications including chorea associated with Huntington’s disease, tardive dyskinesia, and Tourette’s syndrome. In addition to SD-809, Auspex has disclosed the next clinical compound entering the clinic from the company’s product pipeline. The company has initiated a Phase I study for its deuterium-containing form of pirfenidone, a…
Author: Sean Campbell
On Friday the FDA hosted a panel to review Staar’s Visian Toric Implantable Collamer Lens (TICL). With the consensus recommending approval of the device, analysts believe that approval should come in the next several months. Despite concerns about protocol deviations within the company’s trial (more than 700 occurrences reported), the panel consensus was overall positive with respect to both safety of the device and effectiveness. With respect to safety, five panelists voted in favor that there is a reasonable assurance of safety, one voted against, and three were neutral. As far as effectiveness, seven of the panelists voted in favor,…
Consistent with CTPartners’ preannouncement in early January, the company reported strong fourth-quarter results that were well above the company’s original guidance. Revenue came in about $1 million above the high end of management’s guidance, and adjusted EPS of $0.12 were about $0.04 above our estimate and $0.02 above the high end of management’s guidance range. In addition to confirming strong fourth-quarter results, CTPartners announced strong guidance for the first quarter. We estimate that management’s first-quarter guidance calls for organic growth of roughly 20% year-over-year and a 5% operating margin. We believe that the company’s results corroborate the improvement that we have…
Tuesday morning, TD Ameritrade reported February metrics. Two months into the quarter, trading is pacing meaningfully ahead of our model while fee- and spreadbased assets are generally pacing a bit light versus our model. Trading was particularly strong, with record-high DARTs of 501,000. IDA balances currently lag our model, which we attribute primarily to investors continuing to be more engaged and holding smaller cash balances. Fee-based balances were also light, but they represent a relatively small portion of the company’s revenues. The stock trades at 22.6 times our fiscal 2014 (ending September 30) adjusted EPS estimate and 19.9 times fiscal…
On Monday, the investor community was introduced to the first fall collection from new executive creative director Stuart Vevers, culminating a week of meetings with fashion news media and wholesale accounts. This marked Coach’s firstever presentation at New York Fashion Week, and importantly, the collection was critical to achieving buy-in from the fashion media, which we believe was achieved. We believe Mr. Vevers’s previous roles as creative director at LVMH’s Loewe and Mulberry as well, his other work at Bottega Veneta and Luella Bartley, and also his creative vision make him well suited to restore Coach’s fashion integrity. It was…
United Technologies delivered solid second-quarter earnings of $1.70 per share, a 4% improvement versus the prior year after adjusting for gains in both the current and prior period.
Myriad Genetics reported fiscal fourth-quarter results and provided guidance for 2014 that were both ahead of expectations. Longer term, analysts expect margins to decline as a result of the lower-gross-margin myRisk Hereditary Cancer test and higher marketing costs in the face of new competition. The advancement of next-generation sequencing into the clinical arena, technology risk from competitors, and continued pricing pressure pose significant challenges to the firm. Overall, results for the fourth quarter exceeded our forecasts. Total sales were $174.1 million, an increase of 31% over last year thanks to generally strong results across all product lines and business segments.…
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken reported net income of SEK 3.2 billion, or SEK 1.47 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter compared with SEK 2.2 billion, or SEK 1.02 per diluted share, a year ago. For 2012, net income equaled SEK 11.6 billion, or SEK 5.29 per diluted share, a 7.4% increase from 2011 net income of SEK 10.8 billion, or SEK 4.91 per diluted share. During the quarter, SEB realized a tax benefit of SEK 401 million compared with paying approximately SEK 800 million-850 million in income tax over the last three quarters. The tax benefit is the result of…
Microsoft (MSFT) is accelerating its efforts to bring its Office software suite to tablets and mobile because of increasing competition from cheaper new word processing apps, Reuters reported. The company already has Office versions ready for release for iPhone and iPad but final approval has not been given by new CEO Satya Nadella, Reuters, citing unnamed sources. Reuters said that according to one analyst estimate, Microsoft is missing out on $2.5 billion in annual revenue by its slow move toward mobile for Office. In the meantime, new apps such as Haiku Deck, Paper, Quip, plus Google Apps, are “nibbling away”…
STMicroelectronics reported decent fourth-quarter results and gave investors a predictably soft first-quarter outlook that was in line with analysts expectations. ST provided more details surrounding its exit from the ST-Ericsson joint venture, and, while it will be expensive, the exit is a critical step forward for ST to sustain profitability in future. Macroeconomic conditions are still sluggish, and sales were down sequentially in each business segment with the exception of the analog business, which experienced 7.5% sequential growth, thanks to chip design wins in popular smartphones launched before the holiday season. ST introduced several new analog product lines in 2012,…
FirstService’s revenue of $691.7 million, growth of 14.5% year-over-year, surpassed the consensus of $672 million and our $678 million estimate. Adjusted EPS of $0.97 also were nicely above our estimate of $0.91 as stronger revenue growth for FirstService appears to be driving operating leverage, which is a key component for our investment thesis on the stock. A lower tax rate also benefited EPS by roughly $0.02 versus our model. The revenue beat versus the Street stems primarily from the Colliers segment. Internal revenue growth increased 14%, driven by strong gains in Europe and Asia-Pacific that benefited from solid volumes in…
Macy’s has continually posted solid results, as the firm’s operating strategies produce incremental results. Comparable-store sales improvements can continue for at least the next few seasons, as many of the merchandising initiatives and employee training initiatives are still taking effect. In 2013, the firm increased its share re-purchase program by $1.5 billion, bringing the new authorization to $2.6 billion, and the dividend from $0.20 per share to $0.25 per share. Still, management stated that it continues to target lease-adjusted leverage in the 2.4 to 2.7 times range (currently at the low end), and a mid-BBB credit rating. Debt is increasingly…