Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. and Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A. de C.V.

Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUXL), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH), Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) and Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A. de C.V. (NYSE: KOF).

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Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Auxilium a Buy at $20

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AUXL) reported financial results for the first quarter 2009 on May 6, 2009. Total revenues for the first quarter were $34.7 million, an increase of 28% over the first quarter in 2008.

Revenues consisted of approximately $32.5 million in U.S. sales of Testim, up 20% year-over-year, $1.3 million in milestone recognition from Ferring International S.A. on ex-U.S. Testim activities, and $0.9 million in amortization from the previous upfront payment from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). This was slightly lower than expected by about $2.0 million based on lower sales of Testim.

Cognizant - Bearish Trend Over?

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH, Hold) reported its fiscal Q1 results yesterday. Q1 revenues of $746 million were ahead of our $734 million estimate, although down 1% q/q (but flat assuming constant currency). Non-GAAP gross margin of 20.2% were in-line with guidance, while GAAP EPS of $0.38 were ahead of our and consensus estimates by a penny.

Overall, the company posted solid results across all verticals, although the banking vertical (with nearly 30% of revenues) saw a 2% sequential decline in revenues.

An Update on NBIX's Elagolix

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) has recently completed the entire twelve months of the Petal-602 study, which includes six months of treatment and six months follow-up.

Post-treatment reviews looking to determine the impact of elagolix on bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) show consistent results with the six month data, whereas there was no apparent effect from baseline in the elagolix treatment arms. After the twelve months, patients taking 150mg elagolix showed a mean change in BMD of +0.19% for the spine and -0.28% for the femur.

Coca-Cola FEMSA Inexpensive

Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A. de C.V. (NYSE: KOF) is the largest Coca-Cola bottler in Mexico and Argentina, and is one of Coke's two anchor bottlers in Latin America.

The company posted positive operating results for the first quarter of 2009, mainly considering the difficult economic situation. Moreover, the results in the Mercosur and Latincentro division were particularly impressive. The recent acquisitions will enhance company’s topline growth in the medium term.

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