There is disagreement over Opko Health Inc. (NYSE: OPK; TASE: OPK), controlled by Phillip Frost. In response to an opinion piece by Lakewood Capital on "Seeking Alpha" on Tuesday, which sent Opko's share price down 14.7% on Nasdaq and 11.7% on the TASE yesterday, Joshua Ginsburg published a rebuttal on the same site.
In response to Lakewood's claim that Opko is traded at 75-100% above its value and that it is an illusion for investors, Greenberg says, "The bear case against Opko Health has been a losing game for shorts since the 2009 recovery and aside from a few pullbacks on occasion, the overall trend for Opko points significantly higher.
"While Lakewood Capital was eager to talk about their short position in Opko Health, what the company failed to disclose was the fact that it has also reported a long position in Opko Health... Being that this is the case, and the company failed to disclose this in its own article, it would not be farfetched to consider the possibility that Lakewood is preparing to close its short position in Opko and potentially buy more shares of the healthcare company."
"If there were ever a time for short sellers of Opko Health to be panicking, now would be it," Ginsburg writes, "Over the next 4 months several key catalysts are in store for the company and the prospects of them being achieved are to say the least, very high. This month, any day now, the Phase III results for Opko's partnered Cancer drug Rolipitant are due to be released. Any positive news on the results of this trial should have a significantly positive effect on the company's share price. If I was short Opko, this would be my first cause for concern."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 12, 2013
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