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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (6536)	12/22/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

PFEr Tonight: 12/22/98 PFE (+56.8% YTD) has the mo ..... reflecting the nearing approval of Viagra in Japan, anticipation of the FDA Celebrex approval and end of the year portfolio window dressing. Today's close of 117 3/16 is the fourth highest in PFE history. The all-time high close of 118 11/16 (July 13, 1998) is now within striking distance. With only 6 trading days left in 1998, I also expect that the all-time high of 121 3/4 (April 21,1998) will be broken.....before expected profit-taking strikes again. If PFE can hold 120 through early January, the probability of a 3-1 split announcement by the end of January will increase to 96%. PFE - PFIZER INC Last Price: 117 3/16 at 17:01 Change: Up 2 1/8 (+1.85%) High: 117 13/16 at 15:29 Low: 114 7/8 at 11:11 Open: 115 1/8 Previous Close: 115 1/16 on 12/21 Volume: 2,158,200 (Note low volume does not indicate a Peak) 30-Day Avg. Volume: 2,724,000 Shares Outstanding: 1,297,794,000 52-Week High: 121 3/4 (4/21/98) 52-Week Low: 69.56 (12/19/98) Beta: 1.01 Yield: 0.70% P/E Ratio: 47.1 EPS: 2.49 -The latest issue of Newsweek "Perspectives '98" has a full page on the big V. newsweek.com - With the AMGN rush, we have new leaders in the Big Pharma Scoreboard and the PFEr Portfolio Challenge. More to follow at the end of the week. To all PFErs and Pharmers: I wish you and your families a joyful holiday season and a very happy, healthy, and pfun 1999...or at least a repeat of 1998! BigKNY3

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (6536)	12/22/1998 10:54:00 PM
From: BigKNY3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

SmartMoney: The Best Investments for 1999: 12/22/98 Dow Jones News Service The diversified drug and consumer goods maker Warner-Lambert, which is the No. 1 holding of such top-performing funds as Fidelity Select Health Care and Vanguard Health Care, is a prime example. Though it currently has a P/E of 41.3, based on 1999 earnings, it boasts a three- to five-year estimated growth rate of 24.9 percent, one of the highest of any large-cap drug stock. That might sound suspicious in a market where growth rates have been routinely faltering, but there are good reasons for those expectations. For one, Warner-Lambert currently sells two of the industry's blockbuster drugs, Lipitor and ReZulin. The former is the No. 1-selling cholesterol-lowering drug, while the latter is the major new diabetes drug. Both of these products are in the very early stages of their life cycles, which means they should have several more years of solid sales growth before going off-patent (the point when other companies can make cheaper generic versions of the same drug). In fact, Lipitor is only now entering Japan, one of Warner's largest international markets. More good news: Because it co-marketed Lipitor with the drugmaker Pfizer, Warner- Lambert now gets to choose and co-market a drug from Pfizer's highly regarded pipeline. Plenty of other drugs at the Morris Plains, N.J., outfit are also going gangbusters. Sales of the company's blood-pressure-lowering drug Accupril are surging, as is the anticonvulsant Neurontin. Analyst Steven Gerber of CIBC Oppenheimer describes Neurontin as "kind of a sleeper product," noting that in addition to its primary function of treating epilepsy, it's being increasingly used for other ailments, such as chronic pain. "It looks like it's about to accelerate its growth rate," says Gerber, a Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst. "It could be a $500 million product for 1999," up from $400 million in 1998. That would make it the company's No. 3 drug. Our runner-up is pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Despite the company's impressive drug pipeline and diversity of products, the market has seemingly been focused on just one issue: Viagra, which accounts for only 6 percent of the company's revenue. In fact, the stock fell by $5.50 after the company's recent announcement of weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales of the drug. Shares are now trading at a forward P/E of 45-admittedly expensive, but still 30 percent off the stock's five-year P/E high of 64. Analysts think there's more to this story than just slowing Viagra sales, and that both that particular drug and overall earnings will bounce back in 1999. They still have the company's earnings pegged at a 19.5 percent growth rate over the next three to five years. Why? Pfizer, which spends 16 percent of revenue on R&D, more than any other large-cap drugmaker, has what is arguably the strongest drug pipeline, having produced such products as the antidepressant Zoloft, the hypertension drug Norvasc and the Alzheimer's drug Aricept, to name a few. And this year's product launches, which include the antiarthritis drug Celebra, widely regarded as a potential blockbuster, are expected to add $1 billion to Pfizer's annual revenue. Nor should investors write off a turnaround in Viagra sales. Pfizer is pursuing a vigorous direct-to-consumer marketing campaign. It also introduced the drug to Europe at the end of 1998, and Viagra should arrive in the Japanese market during the second half of this year