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• Gilead: A drug habit worth having

  Posted Nov 06 2007, 04:53 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Trading
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  When you think about the surprising success of the Nasdaq 100 index this year, the first things that naturally come to mind are tech powerhouses like Google, Apple and Microsoft. But you’ve got a leave a little room for the love of biotech too, and my favorite name there is Gilead Sciences.

  The immunology specialist has really proven immune to selling for most of its life in the public arena, as it is one of the most successful stocks of any type of the past 10 years, with 2,075% capital appreciation stemming from steadfast invention and marketing of biotech therapies.
  
  Pushing shares to a new high in the past week, though, were positive vibes at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for the Study of Liver Disease currently taking place in Boston. Just in case you couldn’t attend, or haven’t checked out the abstracts, let me be the first to inform you that folks got pretty excited about a previously little-known compound being tested by Gilead with the exotic name GS-9190. It's a polymerase inhibitor therapy for hepatitis C that suddenly shows a lot of promise.   Read More...

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• 'Halo' effect boosts Microsoft

  Posted Nov 02 2007, 02:06 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Microsoft, Apple, Trading
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  Even though this site is published by Microsoft, there's no reason we can't mention its stellar earnings report last week. I've been urging subscribers to my Strategic Advantage newsletter service to buy the stock since June in anticipation of a strong third and fourth quarter, and we have not been disappointed as fundamentals have improved dramatically and shares are up 25%.

  The key point: Mainstream investors of all stripes simply underestimated the impact of the new Xbox game Halo 3, rising PC sales in developing nations and the slow but steady purchase of the new Windows Vista operating system. Results were actually staggering, especially for an iconic firm which until recently seemed asleep at the wheel. Revenue soared 27% to nearly $14 billion, beating the consensus estimate by more than $1 billion. Earnings roared 23% higher, to $4.3 billion or 45 cents per share. For a company of this size, putting up growth in the 20%-plus range is no easy feat.   Read More...

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• Leopard chases Apple shares higher

  Posted Oct 31 2007, 10:17 AM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Investing, Apple, Trading
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  Any doubts about the idea that Apple could produce another blow-out quarter this winter were put to rest this weekend when the company released its latest operating system, called Leopard. The company reports that it sold a staggering 2 million copies through its retail stores, resellers and online from Friday through Monday.
  
  Just to give you some perspective on that number: When Apple released its Jaguar operating system in 2002, it sold 100,000 in the first weekend. Two years ago, when it released the Tiger operating system, it took seven weeks to sell 2 million copies. So 2 million in three days has to blow you away. Regardless of the credit crunch, foreclosure crisis and rumors of consumer spending slowdown, Apple stores were packed this weekend.   Read More...

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• Apple still in sweet spot ... next stop: $240

  Posted Oct 22 2007, 03:49 PM by Jon Markman
  Filed under: Apple, music, Trading
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  Apple reported a huge third-quarter number after the bell today, surprising bulls and panicking bears who have sold the stock short. The Cupertino, Calif., company said it earned $1.01 per share on $6.2 billion in revenue. Consensus expectations were for an 84-cent quarter on $6.06 billion in sales.

  How big a surprise was that? As I have explained to readers in the past, the quick and dirty way to figure out the “expected surprise” for a stock is to visit its Earnings Surprise page on MSN Money. There you will see that in the past four quarters, Apple has surprised by 22.7%, 24%, 46%, 38% and 29%. So today’s 20% surprise was on the low end, but good enough for a company with a $150 billion market cap. 

  Looking forward, Apple executives tried to sandbag analysts with lowball guidance, stating that they expected to earn $1.42 in the first quarter -- just a touch better than the $1.40 expectation. The company is really in a sweet spot now because it is getting a premium price for its personal computers, MP3 players and phones at a time when all of its competitors are discounting like crazy, and at the same time it is benefitinig from lower input costs such as flash and hard disk memory.   Read More...

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