Cloudy Days Ahead at Trina Solar; Blockbuster's Survival; and, Generic Threat to Optimar Pharma's Antibiotic

[david phillips]

Chairman and CEO Jifan Gao of Trina Solar (TSL-$27.10) optimistically
told analysts on its second-quarter earnings call that he believed
market confidence was returning to the photovoltaic sector and
expected gross margin to stabilize going forward. Overlooked by the
Wall Street sycophants in their effusive praise, however, was the
admission by chief financial officer Terry Wang that profitability
going forward remained dependent on the solar company cutting
manufacturing costs greater than sequential declines being experienced
in average selling prices (ASPs).

http://10qdetective.blogspot.com/2009/08/wall-street-suck-ups-praise-trina.html


Given Blockbuster’s (BBI-$0.72) existing debt-service obligations on
its levered capital structure, the 10Q Detective believes that the
motivation behind new purchase arrangements with the major film
studios was not for growth but an attempt by Blockbuster to continue
managing the business for cash conservation, as additional credit
restrictions were forced on the company by its suppliers.

http://10qdetective.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-revenue-sharing-deals-with-studios.html


The relative efficacy of Optimer Pharma's (OPTR-$13.49)
investigational antibiotic, fidaxomicin, compared to standard-of-care
vancomycin (marketed as Vancocin by drugmaker ViroPharma), for the
treatment of the hospital-acquired gastrointestinal infection
Clostridium difficile remains unclear, as published results show
similar recurrence rates in a subset of patients infected with a life-
threatening strain of the C. difficile spores. In the opinion of the
10Q Detective, even if Optimer obtains regulatory approval to market
fidaxomicin, its commercial success will be limited, as the Food &
Drug Administration is likely to move forward on an advisory
committee’s recommendation for the sale of cheaper, generic copies of
Vancocin.

http://10qdetective.blogspot.com/2009/08/generic-vancocin-threatens-optimer.html