ما الذي يحصل لهذه الشركة؟
يا أخ فهد مالذي يحصل لهذه الشركة (وصلت 30 دولار الأدنى منذ 13 شهرا) وغيرها من شركات الأدوية ...نزول كبير خاصة الأسبوع الأخير ...هل هو بسبب الإقبال على شركات التقنية أم أن هناك أخبار أخرى؟؟؟UPDATE 1-CIMA, Noven shares tumble after warnings
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2001 1:04 PM
- Reuters U.S. Company News
UPDATE 1-CIMA, Noven shares tumble after warnings
(Adds details in paragraphs; updates stock price in paragraphs 2,3 10-13, 16-20)
CHICAGO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Shares of CIMA Labs Inc. and Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc. plunged by about 33 percent each on Friday after the companies warned late on Thursday about their expected results.
CIMA shares fell $18.32 to $36.69, a drop of 32 percent, in midday trading on the Nasdaq, after trading as low as $35.53 earlier in the day.
Shares of Noven, a maker of patches that deliver drugs through the skin, were down about 33 percent at $14.89 on the Nasdaq, off an earlier low at $13.12.
Both stocks were among the biggest percentage losers on the Nasdaq, with CIMA's stock falling to a 13-month low and Noven's shares falling to a 17-month low.
CIMA, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, posted third-quarter results on Thursday that were generally in line with Wall Street's forecasts, but cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter, citing order deferrals and lower royalty revenues.
"We downgraded the stock and cut our outlook," said SG Cowen pharmaceutical analyst Ian Sanderson. "Two of CIMA's key drivers -- Remeron and Zomig -- are being rolled out slower than expected."
Sanderson cut his investment rating on the stock to "buy" from "strong buy," and lowered his 2002 earnings per share estimates to $1.20 from $1.30. The adjustment, he said, brings CIMA's multiples to about 30 times earnings, closer to its peers.
Neal Zung, an analyst with Fahnestock & Co., said he thought the decline in CIMA shares was overdone.
"The market is overreacting to a short-term revenue shortfall they're predicting because of excess inventory," he said.
The tumble in Noven shares followed the firm's reported 30 percent decline in third-quarter earnings to $2.5 million after the close of trading on Thursday. Noven forecast 2002 revenue that would be unchanged with 2001 expectations and projected earnings per share of between 45 cents and 55 cents.
Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call expect Noven to earn 72 cents per share in 2002.
Noven, a major player in the transdermal female hormone replacement therapy market, warned in August that the second half of 2001 would be challenging because it had not received certain expected product orders from Novartis AG that are important to the continued growth of its international business.
Novartis licenses Noven's principal international products, the estrogen patches Estalis and Estradot, in most markets outside the United States.
Zung said Miami-based Noven, because of its heavy reliance on Novartis of Switzerland, may take longer to pull out of its slump.
"The third quarter was in line with estimates, the fourth quarter outlook was in line, but they lowered their 2002 estimates because they're not getting the orders from Novartis," Zung said. "That could all change, but people live from quarter to quarter."
Noven on Thursday said it is counting on Novartis to rapidly convert their existing transdermal estrogen business to Estradot, and that Novartis was considering the option.
"We must recognize the fact that, without broad conversion, launches may not be as robust or rapid as we would like," said Robert Strauss, Noven president, CEO and chairman.
Noven also said Estalis orders by Novartis in the second half of 2001 have been much lower than in the first half, and forecasted orders for 2002 to be lower than 2001 due in part to high inventory levels.
It said Novartis plans to seek approval of a second Estalis dosage strength in European countries where only one strength is presently approved.
But Strauss warned that he does "not expect renewed growth in our sales of Estalis until the second dosage is approved."
REUTERS
Rtr 13:04 11-02-01
