Genentech Overtakes Pfizer - Briefly

As I was Googling around looking for articles to use as homework for the upcoming Genentech meeting, I stumbled across this nugget on Matthew Herper's "Science Business" blog over at "Forbes."

When I wasn't looking, the market value of biotech giant Genentech (DNA) surpassed the market cap of the world's biggest drug company, Pfizer (PFE).

As I write this (early Friday), PFE is at $84 billion. And Genentech is at $90 billion.

And as Herper points out, Genentech's revenue is about a quarter of Pfizer's. What's more, a widely-expected higher bid from Swiss drugmaker Roche (RHHBY.PK) will drive the market cap of DNA even higher. Meantime there's little that analysts see on the horizon, aside from the stock being cheap, to move up PFE shares. The other Swiss drugmaker, Novartis (NVS), is nipping at Pfizer's heels with a market cap of nearly $83 billion.

Good catch, Matthew.

[Ed. note: But that was then and this is now: as of Friday's close, PFE's market cap is $90.57B; DNA's is $90.12B; NVS's is $82.1B.]

Comments

[Football Geek:]

Mr. anti-pfizer is at it again

Everyone knows you are bias against pfizer, you hack

no talent clown

Feb 28 08:06 PM

[heball:]

Apples and Oranges, with the state of the economy, growth stocks are out of the question in my portfolio. (The larger they are the harder they fall.) Given DNA fails to offer Divs, my vote of confidence goes to PFE @ $1.28/(10.40%), perhaps the additional income is not sustainable in the near future, but they're here today. A no brainer.

Mar 01 01:34 PM

[memphis tiger:]

huckman, why don't you reveal to the public exactly what your disdain and agenda is towards pfe? never have i seen an analyst or journalist so giddy about reporting anything bad about a company. whether you like it or not, whether through internal or acquired r&d, pfizer has contributed a significant amount towards the betterment of real people's lives. you seem to hate them because our legal system is biased against intellectual property. like all the other socialists in our government, you won't be happy until american ingenuity, risk capital and entrepreneurial spirit are obliterated. all for the sake of 'universal healthcare', 'green environments' or whatever mantra you care to use to serve your agenda.

I don't care that your socialist, anti-capitalist, anti-ceo or whatever. I do care that you hide behind quasi-journalistic facade with your secret agenda. spell out what it is you dislike about this company so that your readers can be clear about what they read from your words.

Mar 01 11:14 PM

[Stone Fox C...:]

PFE is a cluster of a company. Thats what happens when a company quit focuses on growing. Its amazing that Novartis could overtake them. Maybe thats why PFE did the big deal.... to remain the biggest bloated pharma stock. You'd think they'd try to be like DNA.... just amazing how culture can so impact thinking for the worst.

Mar 02 12:00 AM

[Gold_Is_Lead:]

Remember the terms of the Wye/Phe deal - the lower Pfizer share price goes the cheaper they will buy Wyeth. The way Pfe is dropping at the moment seems strange.
Anyone else like a good conspiracy theory?

Mar 02 01:42 PM

[Homework:]

Do your homework. Check the published articles, check into why the stock has slipped from upper $20's from a year ago to $11's today. Dividend is slipping away. Hello? are their any new products in the pipeline? Do a chronological discovery when Warner Lambert was acquired, Pharmacia...and others? The exiting thing (if you are a Pfizer executive) about Pfizer is that it is a US Corporation that is leveraging huge profits for its elite New York executives while ravaging its employees through wage losses and job evaporation, outsourcing and minimalizing their processes that are very well hidden from the public. If you do some math it is obvious that the Wyeth deal will half the dividend, eliminate up to 30K more jobs and all to prevent panic and a loss in future revenue due to Lipitor and other brand drugs going out of patent with nothing substantial in the pipeline. Oh by the way this acquisition would also avert attention to CEO termination and housecleaning of the board members. When you have a good thing going, do what you have to do to keep it going.

Like many others, the Scientific community and leadership in general has been ravaged by incompetent management providing incompetent decisions leading to incompetent direction at the "field" level. The spirit of the past great company has been smitten by greedy executives who are still living lavishly and raking in huge salaries, having parties at the most expensive restaurants, best cocktail martinis while singing the rythmic song of cost reduction to and throughout the rank and file.

Do your homework. What is happening with Wyeth, Merck, Avantis and the others.

Look at the structural changes that have occurred in the past few years since the new management philosophy was introduced and probe for new discoveries any longevity of the discoveries, coverups and PETA issues.

If you did not get it, the spirit of the past great company has been smitten by greedy executives who are still living lavishly and raking in huge salaries. Do you know what the payout is when the stockholders vote the CEO out. Is it more than $200M, is anyone worth that much under their watch to see the stock decline from $30 to $11?

Do some homework.

If the exact details were known it would be an embarassment to the stockholders. Oh, maybe the stockholder meetings will be permanently moved to different locations at the last minute, such that it becomes difficult to voice opponent opinions. Do you think that this would result in a huge loss of share value?

Pfizer has appeared to have outsourced its scientific community and R&D operations to realize over $1B by eliminating all employees and replacing the knowledge base with less skills paying less than half the previous wages. What a deal!

But did the top brass eliminate themselves and cut their salaries? Notta.

Pfizer has outsourced its science to ous sources such as India, China, Japan and other international hot spots and now may not have ample support in the US....do some research.

...and be careful of the way animals are being treated in the labs.

Do some responsible investigation and discover the horror of what is really going on in this corporation. At best its infrastructure could implode if not in the process already.

All this while your dividends are not as attractive as they used to be.

Do your homework.


On Mar 01 11:14 PM memphis tiger wrote:

> huckman, why don't you reveal to the public exactly what your disdain
> and agenda is towards pfe? never have i seen an analyst or journalist
> so giddy about reporting anything bad about a company. whether you
> like it or not, whether through internal or acquired r&d, pfizer
> has contributed a significant amount towards the betterment of real
> people's lives. you seem to hate them because our legal system is
> biased against intellectual property. like all the other socialists
> in our government, you won't be happy until american ingenuity, risk
> capital and entrepreneurial spirit are obliterated. all for the sake
> of 'universal healthcare', 'green environments' or whatever mantra
> you care to use to serve your agenda.
>
> I don't care that your socialist, anti-capitalist, anti-ceo or whatever.
> I do care that you hide behind quasi-journalistic facade with your
> secret agenda. spell out what it is you dislike about this company
> so that your readers can be clear about what they read from your
> words.

Mar 02 01:47 PM

[clanger:]

Hey Huckman, did you ever follow up on that "scoop" I gave you on PFE and its biotech strategy?

Course not.

All yous people at that channel cut from the same cloth as your buddy Cramer and Maria B.

So whats gonna happen when this baby drops?

Whats the baby?

RNAi and gene silencing. Check it out with those ALNY and ISIS peoples.

You been told. Another scoop to go begging on the business channel with the highest integrity.

We love Cramer!

Jul 02 04:30 AM