Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, biopharmaceutical company Human Genome Sciences
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Human Genome's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Human Genome facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Rockville, Md. (1992) |
| Market Cap | $1.8 billion |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $106.7 million |
| Management | CEO H. Thomas Watkins (since 2004) CFO David Southwell (since 2010) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | (71.6%) |
| Cash/Debt | $539.8 million / $524.6 million |
| Competitors |
Biogen Idec Emergent BioSolutions Genentech |
Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 20% of the 713 members who have rated Human Genome believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.
Earlier this week, one of those Fools, All-Star zzlangerhans, took another short-shot at Human Genome:
I haven't done very well with Human Genome, missing an enormous potential gain on the success of Benlysta in clinical trials and then getting crushed when I thought the stock was oversold after approval. Let's see if I have better luck this time. ...
The rise in share price seems to be predicated on optimistic language from management as well as takeover speculation. However, we already know that the net Benlysta revenue for Q4 will be about 26M, which isn't much of a jump from 7.8M and 18.8M in the preceding quarters. It certainly won't be enough to make much of a dent in the company's huge quarterly losses. A recent 500M debt financing indicates that the company may be digging in for a prolonged period of negative cash flow.
What do you think about Human Genome, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Staying away from dangerous stocks is crucial to securing your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to flag them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
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