During a rocky week, The Dow
|
Company |
Price Change |
|---|---|
|
Pfizer |
(1.9%) |
|
Procter & Gamble |
(1.6%) |
|
Johnson & Johnson |
(1.3%) |
Pfizer got some bad news from an FDA panel, which issued a report saying its neurodegenerative drug tafamidis should not be approved. Although the drug will still go before an advisory panel, the report is obviously bad news. The drug itself may not be such a major deal to the company -- the condition it is meant to treat only affects about 10,000 people in the entire world -- but the big risk for Pfizer has been its pipeline issues. The stock now yields a moderately high 4% dividend, in this case a sign of how concerned investors are about its ability to maintain earnings growth in the future.
Procter & Gamble has been having difficulties with its international operations lately. In April it announced that price cut mandates in Venezuela, weak economic performance in developed markets, and rising input costs would eat into its profits. This week, its CFO said the company has spent too much effort going after emerging-market growth, perhaps at the expense of market share in developed markets. P&G derives 20% of its sales from Western Europe, an area struggling under the weight of economic and financial turmoil.
An FDA advisory panel voted against recommending approving J&J's blood thinner Xarelto for treating acute coronary syndrome (coronary blood clots). A decision for Eliquis, a competing drug from Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb
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