Sanofi-aventis
CEO Chris Viehbacher was pretty clear, "At the moment, we don’t think the H1N1 sales will necessarily be that significant this year." Production is likely to be the limiting factor, rather than demand, but, even if sanofi could make more of the product, it would still be a minor part of sanofi's $40 billion or so in annual revenue. And besides, the production of the vaccine is hopefully a one-time thing. Once the pandemic is over, the corresponding revenue vanishes as well. Investors in GlaxoSmithKline
Despite the strong quarter -- revenue was up 6.5% at constant currency and adjusted EPS were up 17.2% on the same basis -- sanofi still faces a major obstacle with generic competition looming for Lovenox, Eloxatin, and Plavix. Add in concern that its insulin product, Lantus, is possibly linked to cancer and you have a company that's going to have a difficult time growing earnings in the future, even if it's looking good now and might eventually get a small bump from the swine flu.
Much like Eli Lilly
A pandemic of Foolishness:
- Thank goodness Buffett has his credibility back.
- Now is the time to double down on dividends.
- This is killing housing prices.