The Dow Bounces Back After Four Days in the Red
Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Finally, the markets are back in the green after several straight trading sessions in negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen from the start, up a modest but welcome 41 points as of 2:25 p.m. EDT. Most blue-chip stocks on the index are in the green today, but health care giant Johnson & Johnson hasn't been able to capitalize on the markets' optimism. Let's catch up on all the action you need to know about.
J&J's dip is no cause for concern
Johnson & Johnson shares are down about 0.5% today, leading a small corps of laggards lower. Yesterday, the company announced that it had completed its acquisition of small biotech Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a purchase driven by J&J's desire to pick up Aragon's developmental cancer treatment ARN-509.
J&J is already in better shape than many of its drugmaking peers as far as its developmental pipeline goes, even excluding the Aragon deal. The company boasts 10 drugs that it plans to file to regulators for approval between now and 2017, and it already has some growing standouts available on the market -- e.g., potential blockbuster type-2 diabetes treatment Invokana -- that will help bolster the firm's future sales. At a time when many Big Pharma firms have seen sales slip due to the patent cliff, J&J has boosted its pharmaceutical revenue by 11% year over year in the first half of 2013.
In short, there's no reason to worry about the shares' minor dip today; think of it as a pullback from the highs J&J has already attained. J&J is up more than 27% for the year, so a little profit-taking is to be expected. Over the long term, this is as solid a stock as they come, and J&J's financial performance in 2013 has backed that up.
Chipmaker Intel is having a much better day, following up yesterday's strong showing with a rise of 1.2% today. Intel announced that it plans to ship out its new LTE multimode chips this month as the company looks to pivot toward mobile sales. The firm has lagged far behind rivals like Qualcomm in this area: Qualcomm's Snapdragon line of chips has already supported LTE in the past, whereas Intel is just getting into the game. Furthermore, Strategic Analytics reported that Qualcomm controlled 97% of broadband market revenue from LTE in the year's first quarter.
Clearly Qualcomm is the big dog in this area, but just how much ground does Intel need to make up? Intel's mobile revenue falls under its "Other" operating segment, which comprises mobile, tablets, netbooks, service providers, and other sales. Even with that smorgasbord of products in one division, the group still pulled in revenue less than one-eighth the size of Intel's PC group in the most recent quarter.
Furthermore, the unit's sales fell 15% year over year in the quarter, and while Intel is getting its mobile feet under it, it'll have to do a lot better to catch Qualcomm.
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The article The Dow Bounces Back After Four Days in the Red originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Dan Carroll has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and Qualcomm. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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