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Biotech / Medical : Biogen -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: William Partmann who wrote (1123)	8/25/1999 11:07:00 AM
From: William Partmann	Respond to of 1686

Merrill downgrades several biotech stocks ************** exchange2000.com *************** By Stephanie O'Brien, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 10:42 AM ET Aug 25, 1999 NewsWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of several large biotechnology companies fell Wednesday after Merrill Lynch cut its rating on the stocks, citing a significant run-up in their prices. Today on CBS MarketWatch Stocks mixed as financials flag July durable goods orders rose 3.3% Bank One punished by investors Net2Phone buoyed on pact to aid Sprint plan Compaq trims PC prices More top stories... CBS MarketWatch Columns Updated: 8/25/99 10:45:34 AM ET Analyst Eric Hecht changed his rating on Amgen, Biogen, Genzyme, Idec Pharmaceuticals and Medimmune to "accumulate" from "buy." Hecht said the ratings change was based solely on valuation. Nonetheless, he noted, the fundamentals for the companies remain "strong and intact," he said. The stocks have had a "dramatic" increase in price recently, Hecht said. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has risen 107 percent in the past 12 months, 38 percent in the past six months and 32 percent in the past two months, he said in a note to clients released Wednesday. Hecht said the stocks he downgraded are trading at 46 times their estimated fiscal 2000 earnings. In recent trading Biogen (BGEN: news, msgs) was down 2 to 76 11/16; Amgen (AMGN: news, msgs) slipped 2 to 78 7/8; Genzyme (GENZ: news, msgs) was down 1 3/16 to 60 7/8; Idec (IDPH: news, msgs) fell 4 11/16 to 130 7/8 and Medimmune(MEDI: news, msgs) slid 7 1/16 to 113. Still, Hecht remains bullish on the the longterm outlook for the sector. He said he expects a two-year trend of upward revisions in consensus estimates to continue, and that he's sticking to a forecast of long-term average EPS growth rate of 30 percent. "Our conclusion is that biotech stocks will continue to appreciate, but at a slower pace than has been seen this year. The source of this upside will likely be earnings above consensus expectations, the underlying growth rate and a new product cycle that could begin in 2001," he said.