Ebb & Flow
Cephalon (CEPH) and Shire (LSE:SHP; SHPGY) put an exclamation point to the end of biotech's third quarter earnings season. Both provided upside surprises, bringing to 14 the number of profitable biotechs that beat their Street consensus numbers for the quarter. Four of the other five profitable product-based biotech companies hit their numbers, leaving only one - Genzyme (GENZ) - to miss the consensus (see "Third Quarter Biotech Profit Scorecard," Online Links, A11).
The list excludes is Elan (ELN): analysts were all over the map with their estimates because the company has not provided guidance while it restructures. But even ELN turned heads as its revenues were above prior guidance and the company said it was ahead of the game in raising a planned $1.5 billion through asset sales...