Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Tue, October 12, 2010
Mon, October 11, 2010
CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: [ ARAY ]), Siemens (NYSE: [ SI ]), Varian Medical (NYSE: [ VAR ]), TomoTherapy (Nasdaq: [ TOMO ]) and Jamba Inc. (Nasdaq: [ JMBA ]).
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Here are highlights from Fridaya™s Analyst Blog:
Milestone for Accuraya™s CyberKnife
Leading radiosurgery systems maker Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: [ ARAY ]) has achieved an important milestone as patients treated with its CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system have reportedly reached the 100,000 mark.
CyberKnife is a non-invasive alternative to traditional surgery and is the only commercially available intelligent robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat solid tumors anywhere in the body. Patients can be treated with CyberKnife without anesthesia and without the risks and complications inherent in traditional surgery.
The CyberKnife system combines continuous image-guidance technology with a compact linear accelerator that has the ability to move in three dimensions according to the treatment plan.
The CyberKnife procedure is well tolerated. Patients do not require substantial pre-treatment preparation, and typically there is little to no recovery time or hospital stay necessary for the CyberKnife procedure. All these features make CyberKnife a preferred choice for physicians.
CyberKnife systems continue to gain significant traction in the global medical community, thereby boosting Accuraya™s sales. Demand for the system (especially for treating lung and prostate tumors) remains strong as evidenced by roughly 15% year-over-year growth in patients treated globally in fiscal 2010 (ended June 30). Extracranial applications (tumors in the lung, prostate, spine, liver and pancreas) accounted for more than 50% of CyberKnife treatments globally in fiscal 2010.
Accuray recently collaborated with Siemens (NYSE: [ SI ]), under which, the latter acquired the rights to sell CyberKnife systems globally. Moreover, the company received Japanese regulatory clearance in August 2010 to market its CyberKnife G4 systems for non-invasive treatment of all tumor types.
California-based Accuray is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery and provides a non-surgical treatment option for patients diagnosed with cancer. In the radiation oncology market, the company competes head-to-head with Varian Medical (NYSE: [ VAR ]) and TomoTherapy (Nasdaq: [ TOMO ]).
Accuray has released conservative guidance for fiscal 2011 with a sizable sales deficit, which is expected to hinder revenue and profit growth for the year. Currently, we have a Neutral recommendation on the stock.
More Franchise Stores for Jamba
Jamba Inc. (Nasdaq: [ JMBA ]), the leading restaurant retailer of food and beverage offerings, recently inked an agreement to develop 13 new stores in Boston, Massachusetts, New Orleans, Louisiana and South Bend, Indiana markets with three new franchisees. This recent franchise development activity ensures accelerated growth of the company and complements the 311 franchise stores that are operating currently.
Among the 13 stores, seven stores will be developed in the New Orleans/Baton Rouge market. The first store is likely to open by January 2011. Four stores will be developed in the Boston market, with the first store opening in early 2011. Boston is the largest city in New England and addresses over 100 colleges and universities. Hence, this strategic location is expected to drive considerable traffic once the restaurant opens. The South Bend market store will open in early December 2010.
Jamba remains on track to grow its restaurant concept through the development of franchised stores in new markets, which will be primarily in non-traditional venues such as airports and universities. During the second quarter of 2010, Jamba opened four new non-traditional franchise locations and expects to open up to 30a"50 new franchise stores this year.
In June 2010, Jamba also signed a huge international agreement to develop up to 200 stores over the next 10 years in South Korea. The first Jamba store in Korea is slated for a late 2010 launch. Additionally, the company expects to clinch another international deal by year-end 2010.
Although Jambaa™s transition to a more franchise-centric model will decrease company-owned revenues due to the reduction in company-owned units, this will enhance free cash flow generation by reducing capital employed. Currently, Jamba Juice has 743 locations, out of which 58% units are company-owned. Management also plans to refranchise up to 150 stores by the end of the year. Upon accomplishing this target, the company will have approximately 60% franchised and 40% company-owned stores.
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