Zacks.com releases the latest Analyst Interview. Today’s interview is with senior analyst Grant Zeng, who discusses Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG), BioMarin (Nasdaq: BMRN), Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq: MYGN), Alkermes (Nasdaq: ALKS) and Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ISPH).
A synopsis of today’s Analyst Interview is presented below. The full article can be read at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2678.
Which companies surprised you – positively or negatively – this earnings season?
During this earnings season, some companies surprised me in terms of top-line and bottom-line numbers. One example is Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG). Net product sales in 4Q07 were $380.5 million, way higher than our estimate of $354.3 million. Total revenue in 4Q07 was $414.6 million, versus our estimate of $384 million. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.27, versus our estimate of $0.15 per share. Much of the surprise came from sales of the company’s key product Revlimid. 4Q07 sales of Revlimid were $247.4 million, $27.4 million higher than our estimate.
Another positive example is BioMarin (Nasdaq: BMRN). In 4Q07, revenue was $44.9 million, $2.6 million over our estimate of $42.3 million. The overshot was mainly from sales of Naglazyme. Myriad Genetics (Nasdaq: MYGN) also surprised me with higher 4Q07 sales ($56.7 million versus our estimate of $53 million).
On the negative side, Alkermes (Nasdaq: ALKS) surprised me with less-than-expected total revenue. In fiscal 3Q08 – ended December 2007 – total revenue came in at $50.8 million, $7.2 million short of our estimate of $58 million. Another negative example is Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ISPH). Total revenue in the 4Q07 was $13.9 million, $2.2 million short of our estimate of $16.1 million. The shortage is mainly due to lackluster sales of its new product AzaSite, which was $2.0 million, versus our estimate of $5 million.
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