And Cepheid [CPHD], the clinical-lab supplier?
At the end of last year, there was a lot of hysteria around methicillin-resistant staph germs. Well, we called the microbiology laboratories and found a lot of resistance to the cost of Cepheid's test. They liked it because it was really easy. But it was $40 for the test and there were competitive tests available for $6 and even less. So, while there was some initial adoption with people buying the units, the follow-through wasn't there in the reagent sales.

Outperform/Speculative Risk - Price 11.87 on Nov. 1
by Baird Securities

Target: 20. CPHD plans to acquire Stretton Scientific, a U.K. distributor, for £1.2 million cash. ... We think this underscores CPHD's comfort with its balance-sheet position. We believe CPHD differentiates itself [from] competitors with GeneXpert, which we believe is the only fully integrated, easy-to-use [forensic] DNA testing system. ... It has successfully demonstrated its ability to produce fast and reliable test results outside a lab...five million-plus anthrax tests have been performed without any false positive results. Market cap: $682.5 million.

GROWTH INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

GROWTH INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

GROWTH INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

Cepheid (CPHD) was upgraded by UBS. Rating raised to Buy from Neutral. Price target lowered to $29 from $31. 2008 EPS estimates lowered to -$0.21 from -$0.17.

DIAGNOSTICS- These are long term investments, he says, not quick trades. And don’t buy until we know who wins the White House. -- Pete Najarian

This stock rox! This is pure play on mrsa. they will dominate the mrsa testing market with 75% of 2-6 BILLION dollar year spending. They have many other tests and are the premier biodefense co. They have internal hedge - they go up selling assays, black swan terrorism happens, everything else goes down, they go up...... Best company on earth

currious

Cepheid (CPHD) downgraded to Neutral rating from Buy at UBS. FY 2008 eps estimates bump up to loss of ($0.09) from ($0.10), but price target rises to $23 from $19.

Barron's 4/16/07

"Cepheid repeatedly has claimed to have found a profitable application for its tests, which use a chain reaction to amplify telltale molecules of a virus or bacterium. But Cepheid's achievements have fallen short of its forecasts. The company predicted it would make a profit in 2006, for example, after supplying bioterrorism-screening systems to the U.S. Postal Service; the systems check for anthrax spores. Instead, Cepheid's losses nearly doubled to $26 million, or 50 cents a share, as 2006 revenues grew all of 3%, to $87 million.Bioterrorism-related revenue was a big 58% of Cepheid's sales total, but actually fell 17% from the prior year. Cepheid chief Bishop says he expects bioterrorism sales to stay flat this year, but the company has had trouble signing a new contract with the Post Office since the last one expired."