The historical rank and industry rank for Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % or its related term are showing as below:
FRA:FQX'
s Gross Margin % Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 75.81 Med: 78.29 Max: 84.32
Current: 79.21
During the past 13 years, the highestGross Margin % of Forest Laboratories was 84.32%. The lowest was 75.81%. And the median was 78.29%.
FRA:FQX's Gross Margin % is not ranked
in the Drug Manufacturers industry.
Industry Median: 46.53
vs FRA:FQX: 79.21
Forest Laboratories had a gross margin of 77.18% for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2014 => Durable competitive advantage
The 5-Year average Growth Rate of Gross Margin for Forest Laboratories was 0.10% per year.
Forest Laboratories Gross Margin % Historical Data
The historical data trend for Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % can be seen below:
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
Competitive Comparison of Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin %
For the Drug Manufacturers - Specialty & Generic subindustry, Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin %, along with its competitors' market caps and Gross Margin % data, can be viewed below:
* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.
Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % Distribution in the Drug Manufacturers Industry
For the Drug Manufacturers industry and Healthcare sector, Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % distribution charts can be found below:
* The bar in red indicates where Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % falls into.
* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD. * For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.
A positive Gross Profit is only the first step for a company to make a net profit. The gross profit needs to be big enough to also cover related labor, equipment, rental, marketing/advertising, research and development and a lot of other costs in selling the products.
Warren Buffett believes that firms with excellent long term economics tend to have consistently higher margins.
Durable competitive advantage creates a high Gross Margin % because of the freedom to price in excess of cost. Companies can be categorized by their Gross Margin %
1. Greater than 40% = Durable competitive advantage
2. Less than 40% = Competition eroding margins
3. Less than 20% = no sustainable competitive advantage
Consistency of Gross Margin is key
Forest Laboratories had a gross margin of 77.18% for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2014 => Durable competitive advantage
Be Aware
If a company loses its competitive advantages, usually its gross margin declines well before its sales declines. Watching Gross Margin % and Operating Margin % closely helps avoid value trap situations.
Forest Laboratories Gross Margin % Related Terms
Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Forest Laboratories's Gross Margin % provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.
Forest Laboratories (FRA:FQX) Business Description
Forest Laboratories, Inc. is a Delaware corporation organized in 1956. The Company develops, manufactures and sells branded forms of ethical drug products most of which require a physician's prescription. The Company's most important United States products are marketed directly, or 'detailed,' to physicians by its salesforces. It emphasizes detailing to physicians of those branded ethical drugs which have the most potential for growth and benefit to patients. The Company also develops and introduces new products, including products developed in collaboration with licensing partners. The Company's products include those developed by it and those acquired from other pharmaceutical companies and integrated into its marketing and distribution systems. It actively promotes in the United States those branded products which have the most potential for growth and patient benefit, and which enable its salesforces to concentrate on groups of physicians who are high prescribers of its products. Such products include: Lexapro, its SSRI for the treatment of major depression in adults and adolescents and GAD in adults; Namenda, its NMDA antagonist for the treatment of moderate and severe Alzheimer's disease; Bystolic, its beta-blocker for the treatment of hypertension; and Savella, its newest product, an SNRI for the management of fibromyalgia. The Company's United Kingdom and Ireland subsidiaries sell both ethical products and over-the-counter preparations. Their most important products include Sudocrem, a topical preparation for the treatment of diaper rash; Colomycin, an antibiotic used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis; Infacol, used to treat infant colic; and Exorex, used in the treatment of eczema and psoriasis. The pharmaceutical industry is subject to comprehensive government regulation which substantially increases the difficulty and cost incurred in obtaining the approval to market newly proposed drug products and maintaining the approval to market existing drugs.
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