Market Currents

• Monday, January 12, 2009

• 17:59 PM Abbott (ABT) CFO Tom Freyman is unphased by the 150% premium it's giving Advanced Medical Optics (EYE). "We do think that the economic situation has been more than factored into the current price," he says on conference call. "There's going to be very nice leverage in this business when the Lasik market gets moving again." 1 Comment
• 16:18 PM With Abbott Laboratories (ABT) buying Advanced Medical Optics (EYE), it moves strongly into vision, but is still missing two pieces: contact lenses and eye drugs. Jon Kamp suggests possible targets - and downside for those already dwelling in the space. Comment!
• 10:18 AM Abbott's (ABT -1.3%) $2.8B deal to buy Advanced Medical Optics (EYE +145%) - the world's largest maker of devices used in Lasik eye surgery - expands ABT's reach into the lucrative eye care arena, and is Abbott’s latest push into medical devices - "a diversification push that's looking rather clever," Health Blog writes. Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: EYE +144%. HGSI +25%. HOLX +11%. PALM +8%. RBS +5%. NM +5%. BCS +4%. DRYS +4%. EXM +4%. MS +4%. Comment!
• 08:14 AM Abbott Laboratories (ABT) to acquire Advanced Medical Optics (EYE) for $22/share ($2.8B including debt). EYE closed Friday at $8.85; shares are +143% to $21.49 premarket. Comment!

• Friday, October 31, 2008

• 08:12 AM Advanced Medical Optics (EYE): Q3 EPS of $0.15 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $276M (+0.9%) vs. $275M. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Friday's open: AEP, AIV, AOC, AXL, BKC, CDE, CLX, CMI, CVX, EYE, GG, KBR, MDC, MDU, NYX, PEG, PGN, WY Comment!