Diamonds and Dogs

3/21/19

Levi Strauss (LEVI) comes public again after a 34 year hiatus. The jean maker is up 33% from its IPO price of $17 a share set earlier in the week. The NYSE welcomed the new IPO by suspending their "no jeans" policy on the trading floor. In fiscal 2018, Levi's net revenue was $5.6 billion, up 13% from the previous year. The company is going public at a time of transformation in the clothing and retail space, with online brands snapping up share and traditional retail names shutting stores and managing shifting consumer shopping habits.

Biogen (BIIB) receives major setback. Biogen is down 28% after shuttering its high-profile, late-stage aducanumab study for Alzheimer. Historically, 99% of the Alzheimer's disease drugs that have entered human clinical studies have ended up in laboratory dustbins rather than on pharmacy shelves. 7 million Americans will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease by 2025, up from about 5.4 million people in 2016. Aducanumab was seen as an important growth driver for Biogen which derives some two-thirds of their sales from its multiple sclerosis franchise, which is stable with minimal growth. As one analst put it, they cannot find any near term catalysts that would help Biogen's stock recovering back about $300 a share.