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(USGovernment-News.Com, March 04, 2013 ) New York, NY -- This week could be a pivotal one. Record market highs are well within sight and investors will look for evidence that last week's bullish momentum can continue into the new trading week, even as the effects of sequestration set in.
VFC's Stock House, an information and research outlet that brings ideas and opens discussions to a broad spectrum of investors, examines multiple stocks in various sectors that made news during last week's trading, and could also do the same this week.
This is an abbreviated report. A full version of this week's report is available by visiting: http://VFCsStockHouse.com
With the weekend under the belt and a few days for investors to digest the news and potential impacts of sequestration, we'll know fairly soon what the market makes of it all. Significant cuts in defense spending, as we've noted before, led to a retraction in GDP numbers for the fourth calendar quarter of 2012, although those numbers were recently revised higher to demonstrate stagnant growth.
The point was made, however, that the US economy is still hovering in a state that is heavily reliant on government spending - that's why at least some investors will consider the looming sequestration as dangerous for the short term, although many will also argue that drastic cuts are needed in federal spending for a healthy long term outlook. Many would expect that those cuts would come responsibly, though, and not at the behest of another fiscal deadline imposed by the bureaucrats in DC who time and again prove the futility of their attempts to get the job done.
Newsmakers:
Disney's Agenda Includes Shareholder Meeting And 'Oz' Remake
As Disney (DIS) hovers just below its recently-set 52-week high, a couple of key events mark the upcoming week. On Wednesday the company will host its annual shareholders meeting, which takes place on the heels of a robust earnings report that included encouraging guidance moving forward and positioned the company to prove immune to sequestration and the volatility that could dominate trading as the markets react to a barrage of news regarding cutbacks. Issues of executive compensation are likely to come up at the meeting, too, but investors are also likely to hear additional details and plans relating to the high-profile acquisition of LucasFilm's 'Star Wars' franchise, from which a plethora of new movie ideas are being spawned. With a slew of new additions from Marvel Studios, too, Disney's movie business looks to continue moving strong while maintaining the enthusiasm around the company resulting from a flying-higher share price. Also this week on the movie front, Disney is planning to release a 'remake' of the timeless classic, 'The Wizard of Oz.' 'Oz the Great and Powerful' debuts on Friday and many view it as a gamble, but one that could pay off in a big way.
If the market fluctuates in a notable way with all the drama surrounding sequestration, opportunities and pullbacks may arise in stocks of all market types and categories. Investors looking for stable, long term holds for a retirement portfolio or other put-away plans, any dips in DIS could turn into a nice add. Still holding some of the most popular brands in TV, movies and theme parks, this behemoth looks to be entering another strong phase of growth.
Shareholders will be able to tune in to the annual meeting on Wednesday via webcast.
Earnings:
Amarin's Earnings Spark Share Price Dive
Amarin Corporation's (AMRN) issued its much-anticipated earnings report last week, followed by an earnings call that investors hoped would provide some insight or guidance into Vascepa sales expectations moving forward. The earnings portion of the Amarin report had little to do with Vascepa itself, as it was not yet commercialized during the last quarter, although one encouraging note was that the company had enough cash on hand to last "at least" the next twelve months, according to statements made by company officials during the call. That time period could allow sales to grow to the point where they could support continued operations on their own. In terms of guidance to that effect, however, the company did not offer any indications or numbers in relation to the ongoing Vascepa launch, with company CEO Joe Zakrzewski only noting that "we're pleased to-date with the progress that our sales representatives are making out in the field."
To the defense of the company and to temper the expectations of those investors who view the market as a scheme to bank a quick buck, the month or so that Vascepa has been on the market is not nearly enough to judge whether a launch has been successful or not - especially when, in the case of Amarin, full approval will not be considered until the FDA's decision on the Anchor indication. That said, it's also not too far-fetched for investors to expect at least some form of guidance in the form of sales and prescriptions. Many companies at least release prescription growth, because early-on that is the best indicator - not sales - to just how popular a drug is becoming, since revenue numbers can be skewed by early promotions, rebates and coupon offerings. The fact that Amarin released little of either will enable the bears to fuel their case a little bit more...
Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) / Global Defense:
Implant's Credit Extension Marks Potential Pivot Point
With the announcement last weak of Implant Sciences' (IMSC) deal to extend the terms of a debt agreement with its primary creditor - DMRJ Group - for a full year, investors and company officials can concentrate fully on the building of sales, revenue and - with a recent TSA approval in the bag - the path towards becoming a dominant player in the ETD and homeland defense markets. Implant had last year already extended this agreement through the current month. In retrospect, this move looked to be a temporary fix in order to allow for the TSA approval to come to fruition, but the year-long extension allows ample time for the business to grow and the for the company to gain the means and resources to pay the portion of its debt that has not been converted into the convertible notes outlined in the press releases associated with the said credit agreements.
In noting the recent IMSC share price dip, short term credit concerns and uncertainty may have prevailed and curtailed enough investor interest to cause the drop. The relatively light volume, however, also indicates that many investors continue to hold to see this story - which is still in its early chapters - play out.
As noted last month when Implant released its most recent earnings report, an uptrend in revenue has already emphasized the potential of the company's Quantum Sniffer ETD technology to infiltrate numerous global defense-related markets, including the air cargo screening market for which the QS-B220 was recently approved. The TSA approval, in its own right, lays the foundation for more significant and relevant deals to materialize over the coming months and quarters.
There will be concerns that sequestration could hamper the short term consummation of any government-related deals, but it's unlikely that Congress - or anyone else in Washington - would pull money from terrorism-related defenses when it's all said and done. It could take time to weed out some of the pork from budget allocations, though, which may delay the process somewhat. When considering the sequestration cutbacks, we should bear in mind that it looks like the Department of Defense will be hit the hardest - not homeland security - so the threat of an impact to Implant may be minimal, unless the guys or gals looking to finalize such deals on the government end find themselves furloughed along the way...
Healthcare, Biotech, Pharmaceutical:
FluoroPharma (FPMI), a company developing a pipeline positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents for the efficient detection and assessment of various forms of coronary artery disease (CAD) and certain types of cancer, is one to keep an eye on during the coming week and for the duration of 2013 as numerous potential catalysts are coming due. The first such catalyst was touched on last week when the company announced initial positive feedback from a recently-launched Phase II trial testing one of its most-advanced product candidates, CardioPET, as an imaging agent for CAD. The images released in association to the ongoing trial look to confirm the earlier successes of a Phase I trial and could be enough to garner increased investor interest as full results from the trial are expected for later this year. In a sign of increasing investor interest, two-day volume was at its highest point of the year following Thursday's announcement, although it is till not quite to the point that would indicate widespread investor interest.
FluoroPharma is developing another Phase II product candidate that could provide potential price catalysts as trials evolve. BFPET, like CardioPET, has already successfully returned positive Phase I results and initial images from the ongoing Phase II test - which is measuring its effectiveness as a blood flow imaging agent for the detection of ischemic and infarcted tissue within the myocardium in chronic CAD patients - have also proven positive.
These results have attracted the interest of Zacks, which issued a rating of 'outperform' on the company with a price target of more than double where shares currently trade. Given the fact that FPMI's imaging agents are entering a market that is valued at more than ten billion dollars, according to statements contained within a recent company presentation, the continued success of BFPET, CardioPET and other pre-clinical products may start to attract additional analyst coverage, if not attention from bigger players in the sector - a stark possibility since early indications state that FluoroPharma's technology provides superior results to the current diagnostic standards for the targeted indications.
While these early indications are encouraging, the products are still just in the early stages of Phase II testing, so there is a long ways to go before any of these pipeline products could reach market. Along the way with such companies, there are risks of trial failures and dilutive cash-raising events. Generally, when investors look at companies at this level of development they are doing so with the intent of potentially building a core position of shares that are slowly accumulated on the dips to hold through the long term, while simultaneously building a position of trading shares with which to play the potential price catalysts along the way.
In today's volatile market environment, however, more investors tend to play the short term trades rather than fully hold for the long term, so bear that in mind when assessing whether or not a stock that is still speculative in nature can sustain spikes attained after milestone news events are released. With last weeks initial results garnering a boost in trading volume and attracting a Zack's report, FPMI may be one for the watch list moving forward.
Buyout Talk Fuels Keryx Run
Keryx BioPharmaceuticals (KERX) on Friday offered investors a demonstration of just how quickly buyout rumors, no matter how obscure they may be, could fuel a share price run. KERX closed twelve percent higher - after having traded even higher throughout the day - on rumors that GlaxoSmithKline was entering the picture as a potential suitor for Kerxy and its recently-approved kidney failure drug, Zerenex. Given the renewed buyout speculation and the luster with which shares closed last week - volume rolled in at nearly double the daily norm - this will be a hot story to watch during the coming days. That said, and as demonstrated by Amarin over the course of months, it's not too often that buyouts occur immediately following the disseminating of a new rumor, so volatility to the up and downside should be more expected than a straight move higher.
As previously discussed, Zerenex is not expected to turn into a blockbuster, due to the overall size of the targeted market, but could provide a decent revenue stream for an acquiring company looking to fill product portfolios that have been depleted by the rash of drugs coming off patent over the past few years. Zerenex was approved for end-stage renal disease and may also hold a superior safety profile to the current standard of care on the market, which at this time is Sanofi's Renagel, the recognized leader in the field. Renagel, however, comes with some associated side effects that, comparatively speaking, have not been seen in Zerenex treatment.
These side effects include nausea, vomiting, and other intestinal maladies, which could be enough - when combined with other factors yet to be discussed - to spur Doctors and patients to give Zerenex a go. Another check in the "plus" box for Zerenex is that it is phosphate binder that is iron based, which therefore may enable patients to retain iron more efficiently than the competition currently on the market. This could play be key, as many patients on dialysis in end stage renal disease are anemic and are stuck on IV treatment - along with everything else - in order to maintain iron levels.
It's possible that Zerenex could alleviate the need for the IV and end up being considered 'one stop shopping'; a package deal that could provide enough of a pricing and logistical boost to make it the preferable treatment of choice. The same cannot be said, at least for the time being, for the competition, generic or not.
Given those advantages, it may be concluded that Zerenex is positioned to not only heavily compete with the competition currently on the market, but it might also have enough behind it to potentially become the market leader. That could be enough to attract the interest of a large player, such as GSK, and Friday's rumor and price run are a testament to that fact. Again, it's rare that rumors turn into deals right away, more often than not they are planted by one organization or another to create interest and frenzy, but this will be a key story to watch in the sector moving forward.
Volume Indicates Interest In AntriaBio
Trading volume has been on the uptick for AntriaBio, Inc. (ANTB) and this could be a story to watch entering the new week, as often time investors look for indications of a 'volume preceding' price scenario. The boost in volume could be indicative that investors are taking notice of the potential of the company's once-weekly basal insulin injection, AB101, to eventually infiltrate the diabetic treatment market which - at least in terms of basal insulin delivery - is currently dominated by Sanofi-Aventis' Lantus and Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Levenir - each of which includes an at least once-daily injection, and both of which combine to bring in over eight billions dollars annually.
Numerous catalysts are planned for the duration of 2013 for investors to keep an eye on. According to a presentation posted to the AntriaBio website, pre-clinical animal studies have already been completed for AB101 and the intention is to have the first wave of human data available by the end of the year. AntriaBio plans to initiate the human trials in Russia first, where the costs of conducting such trials are significantly lower and where patient recruitment is known to be up to ten times higher than in the US and Europe.
The company does plan, however, to move forward with the FDA IND process while development in Russia continues, and having the early human data available from its Russian trials could help to expedite the initial IND process in the United States. Once the early data is established, AntriaBio will look to land regional and/or multi-national partners to advance the product towards the commercial stages.
While the potential of a once-weekly basal insulin injection is obvious, the standard concerns of investing in or trading developmental stage companies of the sector still exist. These concerns include, but are not limited to, the potential for dilutive financing to take place at various points through in the developmental process and the prospects that a pipeline product may fail altogether through the course of trials. With that said, it's often a wise move in this sector to build a cadre of both trading and long shares, should one want to take advantage of price and milestone catalysts along the way while also potentially holding a core group of shares for the long term to see a story through. This strategy can often put an investor on 'house money' well before it's all said and done.
In the case of AntriaBio, this story is relatively just beginning, so there's still a long way to go, but recent trading volume could be an indication that investors are starting to pay attention. Worth watching.
Food/Beverage:
McDonald's May Be Immune To Market Pullback
Like Disney, mentioned above under 'Newsmakers,' McDonald's (MCD) has found its share price on the move higher over the past weeks and is one to keep an eye on as a potential stable addition to the long term or retirement portfolio if a broad pullback should materialize. Given the company's low-cost food options, it's likely that MCD could withstand a large-scale pullback, too, since its restaurants are some of the cheaper options out there and people are always going to eat. Some causes for concern that have been addressed of late, however, revolve around a potential hike in the minimum wage that could eat into MCD's profits and margins as labor costs would undoubtedly increase. As previously discussed, such a move may not effect the bottom line too drastically as companies often reduce or streamline their work force to keep margins consistent, or just pass the labor increase onto consumers. The latter option has the potential to hurt business in the sense that customers could shy away from higher prices, but that's when the company would then streamline its product offerings and keep the money-makers in place.
Roundup: Most international markets traded in the red during the day Monday, but last week proved that US markets don't always follow suit with their international counterparts. Early signs are, however, that this time they will. European concerns have surfaced again during Monday's early hours, another indication that the bears may be ready to roll in. Aside from the events overseas, the primary focus this week will be the effects of sequestration and how they could potentially impact the market and the already-sluggish economic recovery. Few would disagree that Washington has long-needed to implement cuts, so over the long run sequestration is probably a good thing - especially if it forces federal agencies to exercise fiscal prudence in carrying out its day-to-day operations. The irresponsible nature in which these cuts are being implemented, however, could threaten the markets over the short term, and it doesn't help that the New York Times issued an early-hours report stating that sequestration could cost roughly 700,000 US jobs. The tone of the headlines may be evidence we're in for a manic Monday. As always, any market pullback just creates opportunities for those paying attention and looking to play the dips on some of those 'watch list' stocks. This could be a week where some of those opportunities materialize.
Happy Trading!!!
Disclosure: Long AMRN, ANTB, IMSC, FPMI, MCD, DIS.
Follow the developments of these and other small cap stocks at VFCsStockHouse.com
About VFCsStockHouse.com: VFC's Stock House is an information and research outlet that brings new ideas to the table and opens discussions for a broad spectrum of investors, with a strong focus on - but not limited to - biotech stocks, biopharma stocks, and pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks. VFC's Stock House provides individual company profiles, write-ups and reports as well as giving general insights into broader-market news through various 'Stock Watch' lists. At the conclusion of most weeks, VFC's Stock House issues a "Weekly Stock Watch" that examines news items, stocks and stories that made headlines during the previous trading week, but may also make headlines or influence trends during the upcoming week as well. The information contained within the pages of VFC’s Stock House are not intended to be taken as advice, but as a starting point where investors can follow up with their own DD and devise their own entry and exit strategies.
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