PharmaNet plummets to new 52-week low on revised '08 guidance

Shares of PharmaNet Development Group Inc. (Nasdaq:PDGI) lost more than half  their volume and sank to a new 52-week low this morning on unusually heavy trading volume following the company’s slashing of its 2008 guidance and a subsequent analyst downgrade.

On Thursday evening, the Princeton, N.J.-based drug development company announced it had slashed its 2008 revenue guidance to $358 million to $366 million from $390 million to $399 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were on average expecting revenue of $395 million for the year.

PharmaNet blamed the postponement and cancellation of certain ongoing clinical development projects in the late stage segment and a lower than expected sample volume of business in the early stage segment for the revised guidance.

As a result of the revised guidance, Jefferies & Co. downgraded the company’s stock to “underperform” from “buy.”
By mid-morning, PharmaNet is at $9.85, down $13.21 from Thursday’s close. Previously the stock had traded between $13.45 and $43.05 during the past 52 weeks. More than 2.7 million shares had changed hands compared with an average three-month volume of 396,363 shares.

For detailed price information and news stories on PharmaNet, click PDGI.

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