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Amgen Moves Up Earnings Date, Cites 'Unusual' Trading (Update1)
Amgen Moves Up Earnings Date, Cites 'Unusual' Trading (Update1) (Adds closing share price, analyst comment.)
Thousand Oaks, California, July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotechnology company, said it will report second-quarter earnings Monday, about 10 days ahead of schedule, citing ``unusual' trading in its stock in the past week.
Amgen shares soared 14 percent this week, the biggest one- week percentage gain this year, in heavier-than-usual trading amid expectations that the company's results will exceed forecasts on strong sales of its top-selling drug, the anemia treatment Epogen. ``Given the recent unusual trading in the stock, senior management just thought it would be best to report sooner rather than later,' said Amgen spokesman David Kaye. He declined to comment on the speculation about the results.
Amgen shares rose 3 11/16 to 69 5/16.
The stock fell as low as 52 1/8 last month as some analysts advised clients to sell it because they interpreted comments from the company as signals it would miss second-quarter earnings estimates. Amgen traded at a record high of 81 3/8 on April 6.
The stock has risen over the past two weeks as other analysts determined that their colleagues misinterpreted the signals from Amgen and urged investors to buy shares before it reported the results. ``There was confusion as to what the earnings were,' said Charles Engelberg, an AmeriCal Securities analyst with a ``buy' recommendation on Amgen. ``Getting the numbers a little bit sooner clears up the controversy.'
Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen is expected to earn 46 cents a share in the second quarter, the average forecast of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp.
NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. |
