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IMS Health Slides Following Analyst Downgrade

The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of pharmaceutical market researcher IMS Health Inc. fell Friday after a Robert W. Baird analyst downgraded the stock, saying IMS' revenue could disappoint Wall Street.

In a note to clients, Eric Coldwell wrote that IMS's outlook "seems high" because of the global economic slump and difficult business conditions for major clients. He lowered his rating to "Neutral" from "Outperform," and said the company will probably have to lower its expectations later this year.

"We do not see a driver for the shares to outperform in this market environment," Coldwell said. "We see major headwinds to future (revenue) growth as smaller clients and new markets will struggle to offset the concentration power of the largest pharmas."

Thursday IMS Health reported its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $133.3 million, or 73 cents per share, due in part to a tax benefit. Excluding the nonrecurring items, profit edged up 1 percent. Revenue, however, dipped 8 percent to $526.9 million.

Shares of the Norwalk, Conn., company lost 97 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $12.26 in afternoon trading. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $9.62 to $25.50.