Zacks_Analysts's Blog Posts on People And Picks

GE Collaborates with IR to Save Energy - Analyst Blog

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:20:00

GE Lighting, a division of General Electric Company (GE) and Trane, a brand of Ingersoll Rand (IR), have recently collaborated to bring a world class facility that allows building owners to use advanced and centralized facilities to control energy costs in commercial buildings. Building owners and managers can now control costs for heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting by using this facility.

GE Lighting has integrated its LightSweep Modular Lighting Control Solution into Trane Tracer’s centralized building automation system (BAS) to provide users with this advanced cost-control device.
LightSweep solution comprises relay panels, field devices and software. Some of its energy-saving features are simple switching, ability to use timers for on/off schedule for indoor and outdoor lighting systems and ability to sense the occupancy of a given space.
LightSweep solutions are very user-friendly and diverse users from small offices to large global retail outlets can upgrade their lighting systems to control lighting costs locally.

Trane is a global provider of HVAC systems and uses its high-performing Tracer BAS to provide maximum operational and energy efficiency for building systems. The system can be easily accessed and operated from smartphones to laptops.

The combination proves to be much more efficacious, than when used separately. Building owners and managers can now use this single, user-friendly system to scrutinize and control the two largest energy consuming components for commercial buildings, namely HVAC and lighting.
Using this software, managers can now monitor their office space (offices that use ...

Gilead Reports Encouraging HCV Data - Analyst Blog

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:10:00

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) recently announced detailed results from four phase III studies (NEUTRINO, FISSION, POSITRON and FUSION) which evaluated its candidate sofosbuvir (formerly GS-7977) as a combination therapy in patients suffering from various genotypes of the chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

The studies evaluated approximately 1,000 HCV patients. Findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Gilead intends to present the data at the 48th annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in the Netherlands shortly.

We note that earlier in the month Gilead had submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market sofosbuvir.

Gilead is looking to get the candidate approved in combination with ribavirin (RBV) as an all-oral therapy for treating patients affected with genotypes 2 and 3 of the disease. The NDA also includes data backing the use of sofosbuvir in combination with RBV and pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) as a first-line therapy in patients suffering from the genotypes 1, 4, 5 and 6 of the virus.

Gilead submitted the NDA on the basis of data from the NEUTRINO, FISSION, POSITRON and FUSION studies. Data from the studies revealed that sofosbuvir-based therapy for 12 or 16 weeks was either superior or non-inferior to currently available HCV treatment options. Gilead intends to seek EU approval for sofosbuvir by Jun 30, 2013.

Approval of sofosbuvir would not only boost Gilead’s top line but also strengthen its position in the lucrative HCV market. A sizeable population suffers from HCV the ...

NY Times Removes Online Video Limit - Analyst Blog

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:00:00

The New York Times Company (NYT) stated that traffic visiting NYTimes.com and mobile Website (m.nytimes.com) or users through mobile applications can now have limitless access to video content for free. This applies to both subscribers as well as non-subscribers.
Although this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company started to offer unlimited access to video, yet the cap of 10 free articles per month remains. The company had fixed a monthly charge of $15 for accessing articles over the restricted number on its website and smartphone applications; $20 for unlimited online access and on Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad tablet computer application; and $35 for online, smartphone and iPad application.
The company chose to charge readers for online content due to shrinking advertising revenue and seek new revenue avenues. The publishing industry has long been grappling with sinking advertising revenue.
The New York Times Company’s advertising volume came under pressure as advertisers shied away from making any upfront commitments in an economy which is showing an uneven recovery. This comes in the wake of a longer-term secular decline as more readers choose free online news, thereby making the print-advertising model increasingly irrelevant.
Despite hiccups in the economy, the online subscription based model still promises a guaranteed revenue generation avenue. The New York Times Company’s pricing system for NYTimes.com was launched on Mar 28, 2011.
Another media conglomerate, News Corporation (NWSA) has also moved toward an online subscription-based model for general news content. News International, a subsidiary of ...