J.P. Morgan Reiterates WuXi PharmaTech Overweight, $23 PT (WX)

J.P. Morgan reiterated its WuXi PharmaTech WX Overweight rating and $23 price target in a research report published today.

In the report, J.P. Morgan states, "Following the January (1/10) pre-announcement of 4Q revenues and operating margins above guidance, 4Q results provided few surprises, while 2011 revenue guidance was in line with expectations with a slightly lower bottom line reflecting a possible tax rate increase and wage inflation. Given the strong 2010 results and healthy long-term fundamentals, we expect that investors will look beyond nearterm headwinds from a higher tax rate and wage inflation. Importantly, we believe that there is potential to exceed guidance in a number of areas in 2011, including manufacturing revenues (driven by telaprevir), U.S.-based revenues (which had a solid 2010), and gross and operating margins."

Shares of WuXi PharmaTech closed Wednesday at $16.87, up 5.77% from Tuesday's market close.