Health Stocks in Motion
Updated from 2:38 p.m. EDT
Shares of
Biosite
(BSTE)
were among the best-performing health care stocks Friday after the company said second-quarter earnings and sales would be better than anticipated.
The San Diego, Calif.-based company now expects to earn 57 cents to 62 cents a share on sales of $60 million. Previously, it said it would earn 46 cents to 55 cents a share on sales of $53 million to $58 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected it to earn 49 cents a share on sales of $55 million. The company attributed the upbeat outlook to better gross margins and success in sustaining its Triage BNP market share. Shares of Biosite traded up $3.18, or 7.4%, to $46.
ICU Medical
(ICUI) - Get ICU Medical, Inc. Report
fell after it reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales. It earned 23 cents a share on sales of $21.7 million. Analysts had expected it to earn 29 cents a share on sales of $25 million. A year ago ICU earned 26 cents a share on sales of $21.3 million. Shares of ICU Medical traded down $3.05, or 10.2%, to $26.95.
Shares of
Bradley Pharmaceuticals
(BDY)
rose after Standard & Poor's said it would add the company to its S&P Small Cap 600 Index. Bradley will replace
Seacoast Financial Services
(SCFS)
, which is being acquired by
TheStreet Recommends
Sovereign Bancorp
(SOV)
. The change is expected to take place after the close of trading on July 23. Shares of Bradley Pharmaceuticals traded up 94 cents, or 3.7%, to $26.10.
Xenogen
(XGEN)
rose on its first day as a publicly traded company. The biotech concern priced 4.2 million shares at $7 apiece, raising a little more than $29 million. It had expected to sell shares for $8, which had been reduced from an earlier range of $9 to $11. Thomas Weisel Partners led the underwriting syndicate, which included CIBC World Markets and JMP Securities. Shares of Xenogen traded up 50 cents, or 7.1%, to $7.50.
Other health care volume movers included
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Pfizer Inc. Report
, down 20 cents to $32.38;
Johnson & Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Johnson & Johnson Report
, up $1.45 to $56.80;
Guidant
(GDT)
, up $1.30 to $54.55;
Amgen
(AMGN) - Get Amgen Inc. Report
, down 27 cents to $55.73; and
Schering-Plough
(SGP)
, up 38 cents to $18.70.
