Thursday, July 03, 2008

Illumina hits record high....Nice time to be in their ESPP

Illumina shares reach record high as analysts reaffirm positive sales outlook

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of genetic analysis instrument maker Illumina Inc. reached an all-time high Wednesday as analysts reaffirmed a positive sales outlook for the company.
Shares reached $91.41 during the trading session, before retreating. The stock maintained a gain of $1.55, or 1.8 percent, to close at $90.10.

Goldman Sachs analyst May-Kin Ho raised her second-quarter profit forecast for the company to 30 cents from 29 cents per share and counted Illumina among biotech companies that will excel because of sales. For the year, she expects profit of $1.23 per share, up from prior forecasts for $1.19 per share.

The company, meanwhile, expects second-quarter profit of 37 to 40 cents per share, topping the 28 cents per share expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
During the first quarter, Illumina swung to a profit as analytic instrument sales more than doubled with the help of its Genome Analyzer and Genome Analyzer II systems.
Ho previously said the company's profit could increase by about 32 percent per year over the next few years. She and others view the company's Genome Analyzer II system as a key player in pushing the company's profit.

More tomorrow and just what this Analyzer thing is. check back.

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