Tag: Wall Street

Eli Lilly banks on cost controls for higher 2013 profit

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(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said on Friday it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity. Lilly, whose shares were up nearly 4 percent on Friday, said 2013 sales will be flat to a bit higher, despite the loss of patent on its $5 billion-a-year antidepressant, Cymbalta, in December. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker is coming off a particularly difficult 2012 when sales declined sharply because of competition from cheaper generics. It expects 2013 earnings to increase to $3.75 to $3. …

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Analysis: Alimta patent seen as Lilly’s "wild card"

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eli Lilly & Co may have a $15 billion wild card up its sleeve as it waits for desperately needed new drugs to bear fruit. Should an obscure patent on Lilly lung cancer drug Alimta survive a court challenge this year, the company would be able to wring more than five additional years of peak sales out of the fast-growing product that it would otherwise lose to cheaper generics. Annual sales of Alimta are expected by Wall Street to climb to $3.5 billion by 2016, when its basic patent lapses. …

Wall Street nemesis Warren to join U.S. Senate Banking Committee

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Warren addresses supporters during her victory rally in BostonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wall Street critic and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will join the Senate Banking Committee next year where she is likely to be a loud voice in favor of tight financial regulation. The Democratic Steering Committee on Wednesday approved committee assignments for Warren and other Senate Democrats, installing Senator Patty Murray of Washington state as chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee. Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who won a hard-fought election in Massachusetts, will now have a powerful platform from which to oversee banking regulation. …

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Wall Street critic Warren to join U.S. Senate Banking Committee

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Warren addresses supporters during her victory rally in BostonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wall Street critic and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will join the Senate Banking Committee next year where she is likely to be a loud voice in favor of tight financial regulation. The Democratic Steering Committee on Wednesday approved committee assignments for Warren and other Senate Democrats, installing Senator Patty Murray of Washington state as chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee. Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who won a hard-fought election in Massachusetts, will now have a powerful platform from which to oversee banking regulation. …

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UnitedHealth forecasts 2013 profit below Wall St view

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(Reuters) – UnitedHealth Group Inc , the largest U.S. private health insurer, said on Monday it expects 2013 earnings of $5.25 to $5.50 per share, below analysts’ expectations. The outlook backs up comments the company made in October that analysts’ estimates for 2013 were too high due to the weak economy and government efforts to rein in the deficit. At that time, the Wall Street consensus was for earnings of $5.60 per share. UnitedHealth shares fell 93 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $53.01 in Monday morning New York Stock Exchange trading. …

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FDA approves Medivation prostate cancer drug

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(Reuters) – A novel prostate cancer drug developed by Medivation Inc and Astellas Pharma Inc has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for men whose cancer has spread despite treatment with hormone therapy and chemotherapy, the agency said on Friday. Approval of the pill, to be sold under the brand name Xtandi, comes three months ahead of the agency’s late-November decision deadline and sent shares of Medivation up 7.6 percent. Wall Street analysts, on average, have forecast Medivation’s sales of the drug at $1.2 billion by 2017, according to Thomson Pharma. …

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Analysis: HMO stocks may struggle over health claim costs

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Americans’ low use of healthcare services has proved a boon to health insurers over the past two years, reducing medical claim costs and raising profits. The growing view on Wall Street is that those days are over. A series of first-quarter earnings disappointments for health insurers in the past month has damped hopes for a repeat of the profit windfalls that led to huge stock gains in 2011. After digesting the reports, many investors fear that medical claims costs are poised to rise. …

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Lilly quarterly sales, profit beats forecasts

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(Reuters) – Eli Lilly & Co’s quarterly profit fell on plunging sales of its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug, but results handily topped Wall Street forecasts, helped by strong sales of anti-depressant Cymbalta and demand for the company’s animal health products. The earnings beat, relative to investor expectations, was also due to cost controls, surging demand in China for its products and because Zyprexa’s decline was not as steep as had been feared, said company spokesman Mark Taylor. The Indianapolis drugmaker said on Wednesday it earned $1.01 billion, or 91 cents per share in the first quarter. …

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Analysis: Heart device troubles cloud St Jude’s outlook

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CHICAGO (Reuters) – Twin setbacks for St Jude Medical Inc’s heart rhythm devices are raising concerns on Wall Street that doctors will curb use of the company’s products, weakening its position in the $6.5 billion global market for implantable defibrillators. Early last week, St Jude halted sales of its QuickSite and QuickFlex leads, wires that carry electricity from defibrillators to the heart, due to concerns the insulation could wear away and expose the wires. …

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Merck forecasts 1st-quarter EPS below Street view

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A view of the Merck & Co. campus in Linden, New Jersey(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc said on Tuesday it expects first-quarter earnings per share to be between 95 and 98 cents, excluding items, below the average estimate on Wall Street of $1.01. Including items, the drugmaker sees earnings per share between 52 cents and 60 cents. With the euro exchange rate at about $1.31 in the first quarter, currency is expected to have a 1 to 2 percent unfavorable impact on sales in the first quarter. The company reiterated its 2012 full-year forecast, calling for earnings per share between $3.75 and $3. …