Biogen Idec Third Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

Stock Price Performance: Between December 20, 2012 and January 22, 2013, the stock price dropped $6.35 (-4.2%), from $151.21 to $144.86. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between September 10, 2012 and September 18, 2012, when shares rose for seven straight days, increasing 2.8% (+$4.20) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between December 18, 2012 and December 28, 2012 when shares fell for eight straight days, dropping 4.8% (-$7.37) over that span.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts predict a rise of 3.8% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $1.38 billion.

Key Stats:

This upcoming earnings announcement will be a chance to build on positive earnings momentum over the last three quarters. Net income rose 25% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 2.8% in the first quarter before increasing again in the second quarter.

On the top line, the company is looking to build on four-straight revenue increases heading into this earnings announcement. Revenue rose 11.4% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, 8.8% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 7.4% in the first quarter before increasing again in the second quarter.

Analyst Ratings: With 11 analysts rating the stock as a buy, none rating it as a sell and 11 rating it as a hold, there are indications of a bullish outlook.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 2.0 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, for every dollar the company owes in the short term, it has that figure available in assets that can be converted to cash in the short term.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)