More Videos
SPECIAL REPORT
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Pharma & Social Media
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- China Fourth Quarter Growth Could Hit 10%: Official
- Disney CFO and Parks Chief to Swap Roles
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Bill Gates Praises Apple's Jobs for 'Saving the Company'
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
RSS FEED
Pharma's Market
Text Size 
 |
CNBC.com |
That has certainly proven to be the case, especially today as the second firm this week initiates coverage of the stock, but this time with a "Sell" rating. And coincidentally, another analyst is downgrading the stock this morning to a "Sell."
In a business where "Sell" ratings are more common than they used to be, but still relatively rare it's pretty remarkable when you get two of them on no real news at the same time.
Jonathan Aschoff and Ling Wang at Brean Murray Carret & Co. are telling clients to dump the stock which they think could hit $18 within the next year or so. It's all about the Alzheimer's drug Bap, for short, which ELN[ELN
Loading...
()
] shares with Wyeth[WYE
Loading...
()
]. The companies are announcing detailed results of their mid-stage test at the Chicago confab in late July. But Aschoff and Wang write that the recent 36 percent run-up in ELN is "unwarranted". "We believe that many issues...will evidence themselves upon the full data release...generating downward pressure on the stock." They call the phase two data released so far "underwhelming" and say they make them "highly doubtful of success". BMC & Co. would like to do investment banking for Elan.
Meantime, Caroline Stewart at Piper Jaffray is downgrading ELN from "Neutral" to "Sell", but keeping her $25 price target. She, too, expresses skepticism about the robustness of the pending detailed data. The bottom line, she writes, in her research note to clients is that she thinks "the recent stock appreciation (is) unwarranted based on the available data and the high risks associated with any drug in development for Alzheimer's." PJ makes a market in ELN.
So, a few Elanians have been showing me some love following my blog post on Bap earlier this week, but I'm sure the love-hate relationship they seem to have with me and other reporters is gonna swing back after they read this entry.
Tom Rogers, who says he has invested "six-figure money in Elan", wrote, "Thank you for the report and the neutral stance you give."
And Linda Langsjoen says, "I guess there will be no umbrage taken by us Elanians. No ganging up, either--unless it's to blow a few kisses your way!"
But then Michael Pohndorff--not an Elanian--brings me back to earth. Presumably, he's an investor in and/or an employee of Schering-Plough [SGP
Loading...
()
]and/or Merck[MRK
Loading...
()
]. He complained that I had not reported on or blogged about a new study of Pfizer's Lipitor that he believes may vindicate MRK and SGP's Zetia and Vytorin. Mr. Pohndorff wrote in two separate emails: "Your silence is deafening. This underscores that you are an overly dramatic reporter who used your position to destroy a company and its investors. You are scum for not reporting on (the Lipitor study). Scum."
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes