Avastin Paves Way for Upward Revisions on Genentech

Genentech(DNA Quote) announced impressive second-quarter sales for its Avastin colon cancer drug after the close Wednesday, handily beating lofty investor expectations and giving analysts good reason to boost sales forecasts.

Avastin sales in the quarter totaled $133 million, well above the sell side's consensus forecast of $85 million and topping even Wall Street's $100 million "whisper" estimate.

On its conference call Wednesday night, Genentech executives said there was no significant increase in inventory stocking during the quarter, which puts Avastin on a $500 million-plus sales run rate for the year. On average, sell-side analysts are currently forecasting about $400 million in Avastin sales this year, so don't be surprised if some analysts raise their numbers. ...