Sometimes you can learn as much from a company from how it presents its results than from the results themselves.
Take Amylin Pharmaceuticals'
That's because its top seller, Byetta, has had a rough couple of months. Gone are the days of 25% or more year-over-year growth. Byetta has moved into a slower growth phase after grabbing all the low-hanging fruit and facing reports of pancreatitis from patients, so its growth was less than 12% from the year-ago quarter. Thank goodness for Symlin, which grew 32% year over year, but still is a small fraction of the company's total.
Not that the growth of Byetta matters so much anymore for Amylin's long-term success. It has a second-generation version, developed with Alkermes'
I'm not sure why the company didn't reiterate the year-ago numbers, but this alone isn't a reason not to invest in the company: In fact, Amylin's stock looks more appealing at these beaten-down prices. I'd expect the investor relations department to paint the company in the best possible light, just like the marketing department should try to make the drugs sound like they're the best diabetes drug ever.
But investors shouldn't just focus on what a company presents -- be it "adjustments" to earnings or year-over-year growth. Bust out a calculator, dig a little deeper, and do your own homework.
