Stockwatch: Which way is up?
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
As the third quarter earnings season starts to trail off, investors could be forgiven for wondering what it takes anymore for the share prices of companies to go up, rather than down. Over the past two weeks, the delineation between big pharmaceutical companies and big biotechnology companies couldn't have been clearer with big biotechs like Amgen, Gilead, Celgene and Biogen reporting better than expected quarterly profits and raising guidance, whereas big pharmas like Pfizer, Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Bristol Myers Squibb all drifted in the shadow of their respective patent expiries (scripintelligence.com, 25 October 2012).