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

To: tuck who wrote (783)	8/7/2001 11:18:23 AM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1784

Further color on QGENF earnings and market reaction: >>FRANKFURT, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Shares in Neuer Markt-listed Qiagen N.V. (NasdaqNM:QGENF - news) fell as much as six percent on Tuesday, on concerns the biotech stock was overvalued relative to peers and on worries about shaky market conditions. At 1336 GMT, Qiagen shares were 3.11 percent lower at 23.35 euros, after earlier falling to 22.57. The U.S. Nasdaq, on which Qiagen also trades, was around one percent lower in early U.S. trade and Germany's Neuer Markt (^NEMAXK - news) was down 0.46 percent. ``People are selling highly valued stock because they are concerned about the market,'' said Thomas Schiessle, an analyst at Delbrueck Asset Management in Frankfurt. Schiessle, who has an ``accumulate'' rating on Qiagen, said the company has a price/earnings ratio of about 80, while its price/earnings/growth ratio is about 1.5. ``People may not be prepared to pay a peg above 1.0 in this environment,'' he said. Traders said German tech stocks, including biotechs, were also pressed by concerns that Cisco System's (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) fourth-quarter results, due later on Tuesday, could show continued weakness in the world's largest economy. The concerns overshadowed Qiagen's second-quarter results. Excluding an acquisition charge last year, net profit rose 57 percent to $11.3 million in the quarter, while earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to $14.8 million from $10.8 million a year earlier. Five analysts polled by Reuters had forecast average net profit of $8.8 million and EBIT of $14.3 million. Sales rose to $66 million from $53.3 million, slightly less than expected as a strong dollar held back growth.<< snip I'm pretty sure QGENF has sported much higher P/E and PEG ratios before. Wonder what Mr. Schiessle had to say a year ago? Peers? QGENF is almost alone in many of its niches. Sure, competition is starting to show, but it takes some practice before one can take on the champ. And the champ is training as hard as always. Anyhow, I sold a few more puts this morning. Cheers, Tuck