Every day, the sun rises on Wall Street, and a plethora of
professional analysts wake to issue new opinions on stocks.
Here at the Fool, we use our "This Just In" column to examine
some of these picks-- and
the track recordsof the firm behind them -- so
individuals can make better investing decisions.
In addition to following professional banks, anyone can
use
Motley Fool CAPSto monitor the collective opinions of
more than 140,000 members, many of whom
demonstrate better investing insight than published analysts
do.
After
Electro-Optical Sciences (Nasdaq: MELA) spent
the past several months at no better than a four-star
ranking, enough top-performing CAPS members have become
 bullish on it recently to upgrade it to the
highest possible
five
stars. A total of 139 members have given their opinion on
the medical devices company, with many of them offering
analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is often
described as a graveyard for drugs because there are few
treatments available. While
Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP)
seeks approvalfor one of its drugs and
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has one in
clinical trials, many others like
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) have failed in trying to
market a treatment in the past. The Food and Drug
Administration has put Electro-Optical Sciences' melanoma
detection device, called MelaFind, on the fast track, with a
decision coming as soon as the end of the year. Test results
in February showed that MelaFind found 98% of the detectable
melanomas in nearly 1,400 patients, while causing no adverse
side effects.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) and
Siemens manufacture PET/CT scanners for early
detection, but Electro-Optical's MelaFind is expected to
play a big rolein early detection if it is approved.
While other medical-devices companies such as
Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) and
Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) have
established histories and generate healthy revenue,
Electro-Optical has no revenue or earnings yet and has relied
on equity financing to get by. Some CAPS members write that
the company is a speculative play, while some are drawn to
MelaFind's
potentially huge marketand like the device's chances of
winning approval.
Do you think Electro-Optical Sciences deserves that extra
star? Add your thoughts in the comments box below, or head
over to CAPS to
rate the
companyand check out all the information and opinions the
community offers -- absolutely free.
This article was originally published as
A Big Upgrade for Electro-Optical Scienceson
Fool.com
Copyright © 2009 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights
reserved.
|