I am increasing the Buy limit on Opko Health (OPK), a diversified health care company focused on renal diseases and precise laboratory testing, from to $11 to $12 as the company beat its quarterly earnings expectation and gave upbeat guidance on its August 8 earnings release.  I am leaving the Sell Stop at $9 until I see what the stock does over the next few days. Opko posted revenues of $357 million and net income of $15.5 million or 2 cents per share. Estimates were for $321 million in revenues and break-even for earnings.

Opko ran into some trouble a few months ago with the FDA approval process for its Rayaldee drug aimed at controlling the hormonal balance and vitamin D status of patients on renal dialysis, but was able to sort the process out and received approval for Rayaldee which is now being launched globally and is expected to be a blockbuster since it is the first drug of its kind.  Adding to the positives, Opko has recently finalized its acquisition of Bioreference Laboratories and will begin to incorporate its resources and more importantly its 400-person sales force into the Opko fold, allowing for cross-promotion and expansion of sales efforts. Bioreference Labs will lead the expansion into DNA testing and the company’s Claro system of point of service diagnostics which is currently in clinical trials.

I will have more in this Monday’s BTP weekly.

Disclosure: I own shares in OPK.