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

To: dalroi who wrote (1280)	12/13/2002 1:08:20 PM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1784

Anybody got access to Lehman stuff? They have defended ABI, saying its drop in sympathy with WAT is unwarranted because they believe WAT's revenue outlook is company specific. I have heard about patent issues with respect to its mass spec business -- aside from the case it lost a while ago, and the more recent dispute in HPLC IP -- but the only hint about that was a GenomeWeb article that one had to pay for. I'm too cheap. Anyhow, that was not what was bothering WAT, they are talking about business softness. I'm not sure I buy the company specific line from Lehman and would like to hear their reasoning. If I was convinced of it, I would be reloading ABI. FWIW, the short portfolio covered ABI for a 20% gain in less than a month. Here's the WAT PR: >>MILFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2002--Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT - News) has revised its fourth quarter 2002 sales and pro forma earnings per diluted share (E.P.S.) outlook, primarily due to weaker than expected orders for new instruments. In its October 22 quarterly conference call, the company had stated that it had anticipated overall sales growth of 4% in the fourth quarter before currency effects and 7% with currency. The revised sales outlook is for a sales decline of 2% before currency effects versus the fourth quarter of 2001, and a 1% sales increase after currency effects. Quarterly E.P.S. before non-recurring and one-time charges, that the company had estimated at $0.46 in its October 22 conference call, are now expected to be $0.38 - $0.40. Douglas A. Berthiaume, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The combined effects of continued weaknesses in our mass spectrometry business and a recently observed slowing of demand for HPLC instruments from large pharmaceutical customers in the US and Europe have contributed to this shortfall. We believe that this slowdown in our HPLC business is the result of tightened capital spending, primarily from customers involved in research and development activities. At this time, the implications for our 2003 business are not clear and it is too early to gauge the impact of fourth quarter developments on next year's sales and earnings. " Waters plans to present a detailed analysis of its fourth quarter and full year 2002 business results in its fourth quarter earnings release and subsequent conference call currently scheduled for January 28, 2003. At that time, Waters expects to address its business outlook for the first quarter and full-year 2003.<< snip TIA & Cheers, Tuck