Replies to post #133 on EPS & Earnings ... Hits & Misses

[madrose1]

ALKS $25~$22 beats by $0.10, beats on revs; issues upside FY06 guidance (ALKS) 22.66 -0.38: Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.02 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of ($0.08); revenues rose 75.5% year/year to $41.4 mln vs the $39.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY06, sees loss of $-0.11-0.00, up from previous guidance loss of $0.14-0.25 vs ($0.18) consensus; sees FY06 revs of $145-165 mln vs. $160.78 mln consensus.

[madrose1]

Shares of Vertex Pharma do not look as attractive as some competitors-Barron's
Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) could be worth closer to $30 than $50, Barron's argues, even if the company is first to market an effective Hepatitis C drug. Over the past 18 months, shares of Vertex have risen from $10 to $45, a much richer valuation than competitors testing Hepatitis C antivirals, like Idex Pharmaceuticals (IDIX), InterMune (ITMN), Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN), ViroPharman (VPHM), XTL Biopharmaceuticals (XTLB), Roche Holding (RHHBY), Wyeth (WYE) and Schering-Plough (SGP). Some of the more bullish analysts at Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank believe shares of Vertex are worth $50-$60 a share as the company's Hepatitis C drug, VX-950 could get $25,000 per treatment; but analysts at Susquehanna Financial Group and Wachovia Capital Markets believe shares could drop to around $33 if the company ends up sharing the HCV market with other competiting drug