Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX)

[surf1944]

Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Reporting date: July 28, after market close.
Current consensus: Net loss of 95 cents a share on total revenue of $53.67 million.
The launch of Vertex's hepatitis C drug Incivek (and how well it competes against Merck's Hep C drug Victrelis) is a big-ticket event for the second-quarter earnings season.

It's hard to nail down one agreed-upon consensus estimate for Incivek U.S. sales during the second quarter. Vertex's own sell-side analyst survey came back with $21 million, but Thomson Reuters is at $23 million and Bloomberg is at $42 million. Some sell-side analysts have not published second-quarter estimates for Incivek sales, which explains the discrepancy.

Institutional investors surveyed last week expect Incivek sales of $35 million in the quarter, according to ISI Group biotech analyst Mark Schoenebaum, who conducted the survey of 224 investors, of which 25% were from long/short funds.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11187316/3/5-biotech-drug-launch-stocks-to-watch.html