By:
On:
In: Around the web
Tagged:
With: 0 Comments

The German company is pinning its health care hopes on successfully developing its anti-PDL1 immuno-oncology treatment in alliance with Pfizer. That puts the pharmaceutical and materials company in one of the hottest, but also most competitive, areas in health care. And Merck doesn’t have an obvious edge.

Merck’s [stckqut]MRK[/stckqut] first-quarter results Tuesday showed its challenges. Its biggest product, multiple sclerosis drug Rebif is in decline: sales excluding currency movements fell 15.9% in the first quarter from a year earlier, though still accounted for a quarter of Merck’s health care revenues.

Merck has been bulking up in more stable, higher-growth areas with last year’s acquisition of AZ Electronic Materials and its yet-to-close €13.1 billion deal to buy Sigma-Aldrich, the maker of life sciences tools.

At the same time, it is ramping up research and development spending to try to take on more advanced rivals like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co. of the U.S., Roche and AstraZeneca in immuno-oncology. Up to 20 development programs could start this year, six of which could form the basis of a registration with U.S. regulators.

Source: Merck Could Struggle to Hit Health Care Heights

By:
On:
In: Around the web
Tagged:
With: 0 Comments

Of these three companies, I currently only track Skyworks Solutions on my WatchList.

Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS) [stckqut]SWKS[/stckqut]

Headquartered in Woburn, MA, Skyworks Solutions, Inc. is the industry’s leading wireless semiconductor company focused on radio frequency (RF) and complete semiconductor system solutions for mobile communications applications.

This Zacks Rank #2 stock flaunts a Growth Style Score of ‘B’. Its EPS is expected to grow at a rate of 20.03% over the long term, ahead of the industry growth rate of 18.70%.

Skyworks has seen solid activity on the earnings estimate revision front as well. Over the past 30 days, estimates for the current year have moved up 3.1% to $4.69 a share, while for the next year it has improved 5.8% to $5.49 a share.

To top it all, the company belongs to the SEMI-RADIO FREQ industry, which presently lies in the top 1% of our 260 plus industries, indicating that the industry has improving earnings prospects and is in favor with the investors.

Source: 3 Tech Stocks to Celebrate the Bull Market Run: Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS), ARM Holdings plc (ARMH), Cascade Microtech, Inc. (CSCD) – Smarter Analyst