Biotech Earnings Reports

A bunch of earnings just came in for the biotech sector. Let’s see, Biogen (Ticker: BIIB) and Celgene (Ticker: CELG) disappointed and they paid a price for it. On the other, hand Genzyme (Ticker: GENZ) surprised on the upside and gave earnings per share guidance of $4 for next year and $7 for 2011. Talk about a confidence in their short and long-term outlook. Based on these projections, Genzyme stock is still cheap and I see this stock at $90-100 sometime next year. Anyone take a look at Qiagen (Ticker: QGEN)? This stock has been on fire and the fire is just growing. I can’t seem to find any news to account for its rise, but I’ll take it.

The Good...





And The Bad...



Fortunately, I have a bit more of the good than the bad :)

Biotech Earnings Week

This is going to be a big earnings week for biotech companies. Here are the companies reporting earnings: Biogen Idec (Ticker: BIIB) on 10/23, Genzyme (Ticker: GENZ) on 10/24 and Celgene (Ticker: CELG) on 10/25. I think all of these companies will report very good earnings that should beat the Street estimates. People will probably want to know about the bidding process during Biogen’s call, but you can bet that they won’t mumble a single word. Genzyme recently popped with good phase II clinical results from Campath for the treatment of MS. I think the bigger news was the FDA positive recommendation for use of phosphate binders in pre dialysis patients. This opens up a huge market opportunity for Genzyme. Genzyme is consolidating here after a nice run up; it’s going higher. And finally Celgene, this is a momentum play… they better beat and guide up or else!

Biogen Idec In Play

I sold Biomarin (Ticker: BMRN) on Friday @ $26.80 generating a net return of 6.43% in 6 days. Not bad for a weeks work, but what about the news from Biogen Idec (Ticker: BIIB)? Biogen Idec shot up over 17% in after hours after it put itself up for sale. Oh crap… I sold off a big chunk of Biogen Idec at ~ $55, but I still have a little left in my IRA. The Biogen Idec news is going to send the entire biotech sector up and up. You just have to wonder who’s next?

Quick Portfolio Update

I made some slight adjustments to my portfolio. I've been doing a bit of short term trading, but basically held onto the core biotech names. I sold the remainder of my Berkshire Hathaway last week and rolled the proceeds into Biomarin and MGM. I've always referred to Biomarin as a baby Genzyme. They target enzyme replacement therapy drugs and charge a fortune for them. The patient has to take these drugs for life, which generates a nice recurring revenue. Even though MGM has had a nice run, I think there's still a lot of value in the stock. The other new holding is Monsanto, which is benefiting from the commodity bull market. That's it for now...

Ticker	% of Portfolio	% Return
Amgen (AMGN)	3.85%	-25.90%
Biomarin (BMRN)	0.87%	+1.47%
Genentech (DNA)	4.11%	-7.61%
Genzyme (GENZ)	51.21%	+294.57%
Invitrogen (IVGN)	4.27%	+408.05%
J Crew (JCG)	2.99%	-5.37%
MGM (MGM)	2.74%	+0.70%
Monsanto (MON)	2.95%	+11.63%
Melco PBL (MPEL)	0.63%	-15.34%
Microsoft (MSFT)	1.18%	-23.83%
Pfizer (PFE)	5.02%	-9.50%
Qiagen (QGEN)	17.22%	+354.64%
Sears (SHLD)	2.94%	-15.44%
TOTAL UNREALIZED GAINS = +108.50%

Genzyme Pop

Genzyme (Ticker: GENZ) had a nice pop today with strong volume in a weak market. Goldman Sachs held a call with the CEO of Genzyme, Henri Termeer, and basically reiterated the company's long term growth rate of 18-20%. Goldman has a 12 month target price of $81.

Here's a look at the daily chart. This stock wants to break out so bad...