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Health Winners & Losers: Isis

Elizabeth Trotta

05/12/08 - 06:00 PM EDT

Health stocks followed the broader markets higher at the start of the week amid various earnings.

The Nasdaq and Amex biotech indices and the Amex Pharmaceutical index stretched into the green -- but by less than a percentage point -- on Monday.

Helping the indices along, biotechs Amgen (AMGN Quote - Cramer on AMGN - Stock Picks) and Biogen Idec (BIIB Quote - Cramer on BIIB - Stock Picks), were up 2.1% and 1.6%, respectively. While pharmas Wyeth (WYE Quote - Cramer on WYE - Stock Picks), Abbott (ABT Quote - Cramer on ABT - Stock Picks) and Merck (MRK Quote - Cramer on MRK - Stock Picks) added 2.2%, 1.9% and 1.6%.

Also rising, Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS Quote - Cramer on ISIS - Stock Picks) reported a first-quarter loss of $4.3 million, or 5 cents a share, in the recent quarter, narrowed from a loss of 16 cents a share a year prior. Revenue grew to $21.4 million, from $2.5 million, while Wall Street analysts were looking for a loss of 10 cents a share on revenue of $22.1 million. Isis shares rose 7.4% to $12.64.

Of those stocks losing ground, Xoma (XOMA Quote - Cramer on XOMA - Stock Picks) posted a first-quarter loss of $14.2 million, or 11 cents a share, vs. a loss of $15.9 million, or 14 cents a share, a year prior.

Revenue edged down to $12.1 million from the $12.3 million in the 2007 period and falling short of its the Thomson Reuters consensus. Analysts were expectign a loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $16.4 million. Revenue reflects royalties from Genentech's (DNA Quote - Cramer on DNA - Stock Picks) Lucentis and Raptiva and also Xoma's contacts with Schering-Plough (SGP Quote - Cramer on SGP - Stock Picks), Takeda and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Xoma shares were down 7.3% at $2.15.

Shares of biopharmaceutical company GTx Inc. (GTXI Quote - Cramer on GTXI - Stock Picks) fell 3.2% to $16.91 after the company aired its quarterly results. GTx said its loss widened to $12.7 million, or 35 cents a share, from $8.1 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose to $4.5 million from $1.7 million -- analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 30 cents a share on revenue of $3.7 million.

Looking ahead, GTx said that it anticipates a full-year 2008 loss of between $52 million and $62 million, while the Thomson Rueters consensus calls for a loss of $44.7 million.

In other earnings, Medarex (MEDX Quote - Cramer on MEDX - Stock Picks) said that factoring out certain items such as the sale of 2.5 million shares of Genmab stock and a 4-cent per-share stock-based compensation expense, it lost 30 cents a share in the recent quarter. Revenue edged up to $12 million from $11.5 million the prior-year period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had pegged a loss of 38 cents a share on sales of $11.6 million. (Consensus estimates typically factor out one time items but include stock-based compensation expenses.)

Shares edged down 1.1% to $7.03 on lighter-than-average volume.

Away from earnings, Morgan Stanley analyst Steven Harr downgraded ImClone (IMCL Quote - Cramer on IMCL - Stock Picks) to underweight from equal weight on Monday, ahead of data set to be released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June. Harr said in a note to investors that he believes the data for Erbitux in both lung an colorectal cancers won't meet expectations. ImClone shares were off 7.3% at $41.58.