July 13, 2001
QLT Up 11%; Market Optimistic For 2Q, Analyst Says
By ANDY GEORGIADES Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TORONTO -- The market sees a good quarter ahead for QLT Inc.
(QLTI), and showed its support for the stock by pushing it well above the
C$30 threshold Friday, an analyst said.
"The stock's been trading at a very strong support level, so it looks like
there's not a lot of downside left to this," Brian Bapty, analyst at Raymond
James, told Dow Jones.
In Toronto trading, QLT is up C$3.35 to C$33.70 on about 326,000
shares.
Bapty noted that disappointing top-line sales results from a couple of top
U.S. biotechs, as we enter earnings season, weren't enough to hurt QLT.
"I think people have recognized that this is a disappointment QLT had six
months ago, and that's not likely to happen again," he said.
QLT's lead product is Visudyne, a photodynamic therapy. It's the only
approved treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, which
causes blindness. In December, the company warned of a slight shortfall in
Visudyne sales, but redeemed itself in April with better-than-expected
first-quarter results.
The company reports its second-quarter earnings on July 25, and Bapty
said the market is ready for some good news from a stock he called
oversold. "There's a better-than-average chance it will have a good
quarter, or at least in line," he said, adding he sees Visudyne sales of
C$83.1 million.
Just last week, the analyst upgraded the stock to a "strong buy" from
"buy," despite the company's often- criticized lack of a product pipeline.
But his analysis showed that the stock price found a support level based on
one revenue stream - Visudyne - and that's not something investors should
ignore, he said.
QLT is a company that has a strong cash position and a great-looking
revenue stream, which means it doesn't have to look for financing, he said.
"In a bad market, it can probably go out and buy pipeline. And this is a
bad market," he added.
Company Web Site: qltinc.com |
