Monday, April 4, 2011

HEADLINE HITS Updated 04-Apr-11

11:06 ET 

PSID Has Partnered with Taiwan-based HMD BioMedical

PositiveID (PSID $0.46 -0.04) announced that Taiwan-based HMD BioMedical are finalizing the development of "iGlucometer," a single unit combining HMD's patented meter technology with PositiveID's patent pending iglucose technology embedded directly within the glucometer.

PositiveID has already received its first order, for 15,000 units from Liberator Medical Holdings.
10:56 ET 

SODA Files 5 Mln Share Offering

SodaStream (SODA $41.81 -4.99) filed for 5 mln share offering including 1.2 mln by selling shareholders. Co intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, acquisitions or investments in complementary companies, products or technologies, additions to working capital, capital expenditures and other investments.

J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. William Blair, Oppenheimer, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel and Roth Capital Partners are acting as co-managers.
09:49 ET 

ABT Releases Positive Clinical Trial Data

Abbott Labs (ABT $50.10 +0.73) announced data from its EVEREST II study showing that patients with significant mitral regurgitation treated with the company's investigational percutaneous catheter-based MitraClip system continue to demonstrate the clinical benefits of initial treatment shown at one year out to two years, including improvements in heart function and reductions in symptoms.
At two years after treatment, data from 279 patients from the EVEREST II trial demonstrated a clinical success rate of 51.7% for patients treated with the MitraClip device compared to a clinical success rate of 66.3% for surgery patients on an Intention-to-Treat basis.
These results compare with the one-year data, which demonstrated a clinical success rate of 55.2 percent for patients who received the MitraClip device, compared to a clinical success rate of 73% for surgery patients. The clinical success rate is defined as freedom from death, from surgery for valve dysfunction, and from moderate to severe M.R.
09:41 ET 

RVSN Lowers Q1 Guidance

RADVision (RVSN $10.47 -1.49) lowers first quarter earnings guidance to ($0.10)-(0.14) from $0.01, versus the $0.01 two estimate average. Revenues were lowered to $20.5 million to $21.0 million from approx. $24 million versus the $24.16 mln two estimate average.

The first quarter outlook is primarily the result of lower than anticipated Video Business Unit (VBU) revenues from Cisco, which are now expected to total ~$2 million, compared to about $5 million originally forecasted. While the co had expected Cisco revenues to decline progressively each quarter following Cisco's acquisition of Tandberg in 2010 as previously reported, the decline in the first quarter of 2011 was much steeper than expected. For the balance of 2011, the co expects its revenues from Cisco to continue near the baseline level of approx. $2 million on average per quarter.

The company noted that its VBU revenues increased more than 55% over the first quarter of 2010 when revenues from Cisco are excluded from both periods. The Company also noted the strong performance of its Technology Business Unit (TBU) in the first quarter.
09:31 ET 

Motor Vehicles Sales Suffer Minor Pullback, Remain above 13 mln

Smaller incentives and higher fuel costs caused a minor pullback in motor vehicle sales in March. Domestic sales fell from 10.22 mln units SAAR in February to 9.94 mln SAAR in March.
Higher gasoline prices pulled more consumers away from light trucks and into autos. Domestic auto sales jumped from 4.61 mln autos SAAR in February to 4.75 mln SAAR in March. That is the strongest sales level since June 2008 when sales topped 4.9 mln, excluding the Cash for Clunkers biases. Light truck sales declined from 5.61 mln units SAAR in February to 5.19 mln SAAR in March.
Demand for imports fell from 3.16 mln vehicles SAAR in February to 3.12 mln SAAR.
Total motor vehicle sales fell from 13.38 mln units SAAR in February to 13.06 mln SARR in March. This was the first time sales exceeded 13 mln SAAR for two consecutive months since June 2008.
The year-over-year sales numbers decelerated slightly in March. Sales increased 17% from March 2010 after increasing 27% y/y in February. For the year, sales are up 20% from this same point in 2010.
For the second time since 1998, Ford Motor's (F) monthly sales were stronger than General Motors (GM). Ford sales were up 16% to 212,295 vehicles while General Motors sales increased 10% to 206,621.
Chrysler Group sales jumped 24%.
Outside the Big Three, sales from foreign motor vehicle manufacturers were generally impressive. Honda (HMC, +24%), Nissan (+27%), Hyundai-Kia (+37%) all outperformed the industry average. Sales at Toyota (TM) fell 0.6%, but that was mostly due to a strong March 2010 comparable and not from shortages or a decline in demand.


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