Shares in PhotoMedex Inc. (Nasdaq: PHMD; TASE: PHMD) rose strongly, after the company announced that its no!no! Hair broke another beauty sales record: on the 4th of July, beauty expert Jennifer Crawford and soap opera star Kassie DePaiva featured the product at a beauty event. The company sold 41,000 units at $249.95 each, a large discount on the retail price, during the 24-hour event, selling out the supply.
The no!no! Hair removal device has been selling on home shopping television since 2007, where it has chalked up 260,000 sales in the US, as well as three million sales worldwide.
PhotoMedex CEO Dr. Dolev Rafaeli said, "Home shopping television has been an extremely important contributor to no!no!'s growing success and it has been an amazing ride getting to where we are today. We are always pushing ourselves to break barriers and we will continue to do that together with our partners in television."
PhotoMedex posted $50 million in sales in the first quarter of 2012, at a sales cost of $11 million. Sales included the no!no! Hair removal device and its refills, as well as other skincare products. PhotoMedex Israeli subsidiary Radiancy Inc. developed no!no! Hair, which uses heat to remove hair and get long-lasting results over time
PhotoMedex's share price has risen 34% in the past month, recovering half of the loss during the preceding month. The gain has been driven by good news: a settlement in a patent infringement suit and false advertising filed by Tria Beauty Inc. with the US District Court for the Northern District of California and the New York Supreme Court; and the company's inclusion on the Russell 3000 Index and Nasdaq Microcap Index. Four investment houses Maxim Group, Canaccord Genuity, BWS Financial, and Ascendiant Capital Markets initiated coverage of the share with "Buy" recommendations.
However, "Seeking Alpha" has collected user testimonials that no!no! Hair does not really work, is difficult to use, and that the company's returns policy is not as simple as advertised.
Photomedex's share price rose 7.6% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 55.05, after rising 3.7% on Nasdaq on Friday to $14.01, giving a market cap of NIS 307 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 15, 2012
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