Amgen Gets Aggressive

I have a new post at Seeking Alpha:

Amgen with Onyx Pharmaceuticals: Long-term analysis

I will be covering Amgen again at OpenIcon.com, and went back to take notes on the Amgen Q2 2013 analyst call before writing the article.

I like Amgen's relatively new, more aggressive pursuit of growth. The combination of Amgen's existing, deep and valuable pipeline with Onyx's newest approved products and pipeline is a heady mix that I don't think is fairly valued in the current stock price.

It is true that Amgen is a large-cap biotech, so it takes blockbusters to move the growth needle significantly. I don't own Amgen, and I sold my Onyx stock (because Amgen is acquiring it anyway). I am going to be searching for 2 or 3 new positions to use the cash from Onyx. I am likely to pick a smaller, even more undervalued company with a good pipeline. That has been my winning formula in the past. But that also involves more risk. Amgen looks like a good fallback candidate.

I am going to finish reviewing and writing about the biotechnology stocks in the Nasdaq 100 before plowing through companies with smaller market caps. I am submitting an article on Intuitive Surgical in a few minutes, so hopefully that will be up for you at Seeking Alpha tomorrow.

Also, before actually buying a company like Amgen, I usually cover at least two consecutive analyst calls, and of course do a thorough review of SEC filings.

Keep diversified!