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Biotech / Medical : Centocor ( CNTO ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Platter who wrote (906)	4/20/1999 3:52:00 PM
From: silInv	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 965

Tuesday April 20, 1:37 pm Eastern Time RESEARCH ALERT-Centocorupped to strong buy NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Jay Silverman on Tuesday lifted his rating on biotechnology firm Centocor (CNTO - news) to strong buy from long-term attractive. -- Silverman set a one-year price target of $55. -- Cut full-year 1999 and full year 2000 earnings forecasts to $0.75 and $1.50. -- Price target for Centocor based on expectations of higher sales for Remicade, a treatment for the incurable bowel illness. -- The company said Monday that sales of Remicade hit $21.1 million for the first quarter, down from $23.9 for the 1998 fourth quarter. -- Silverman said he expected Remicade sales ''to grow sequentially from now on...Despite lowering our estimates, our confidence in Remicade growth is higher than ever, with what is ostensibly the worst quarter out of the way, higher projected growth than its peers' and the stock trading at a meaningful discount to the top-tier biotech group.'' -- Malvern, Penn.-based Centocor reported a 78-percent leap in first-quarter sales on Monday to $100.5 million from $56.5 million. -- First-quarter sales were led higher by flagship product ReoPro, an anti-clotting treatment, which posted a 27-percent jump in revenues, to $58 million, compared with $45.7 million in the year-ago quarter. -- Revenues also included higher sales of heart attack drug Retavase and revenues from the firm's diagnostic business. -- ''Expectations, in general, appear extremely low, making Centocor, in our view, the most undervalued top-tier biotech stock,'' Silverman said. -- Stock was down 1-1/8 to 34-7/8 in early afternoon Nasdaq trade. More Quotes and News: Centocor Inc (Nasdaq:CNTO - news) Related News Categories: health, US Market News