TO BUSINESS EDITOR:

NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's emerging growth equity analyst has reiterated the STARS ranking on Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK) of "Buy" (***** out of *****) at $55.00 per share. A leading provider of independent investment research, ratings and indices, Standard & Poor's made this announcement through Standard & Poor's MarketScope, its real-time market intelligence service.

"Martek posted October-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $0.21, versus $0.02, which met our estimate," says Markos Kaminis, Emerging Growth Analyst, Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services. "Revenues rose 155%, driven by strong penetration in the infant formula market. Gross margins weakened on acquisition and currency impacts; we see that mitigated in 2004 with the addition of domestic arachidonic acid (ARA) production. We are reducing our fiscal year 2004 (October) EPS estimate to $1.42, from $1.48, reflecting Martek's expected inability to mitigate the impact of the September 2003 Italian power outage in the fiscal year's first quarter. The impact on our discounted cash flow model is negligible, and based on a lower beta and Martek's SG&A guidance, which is lower than our forecast, we're raising our 12-month target to $75 from $72," concludes Kaminis.

About Standard & Poor's STock Appreciation Ranking System (STARS)

Standard & Poor's STock Appreciation Ranking System (STARS), which was first introduced on December 31, 1986, reflects the opinions of Standard & Poor's equity analysts on the price appreciation potential of 1,200 U.S. stocks for the next 12 month period. Rankings range from five-STARS ("Buy") to one-STARS ("Sell").

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The analyst quoted above is a Standard & Poor's equity analyst and a registered representative of Standard & Poor's Securities, Inc. He has no affiliation with any company referenced above. He has no ownership interest in any company referenced above. Standard & Poor's other affiliates may provide services to the companies that are the subject of this report. Standard & Poor's analytic services are performed as entirely separate activities in order to preserve the independence of each analytic process. In this regard, STARS, which are published by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services, operates independently from, and has no access to information obtained by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which may in the course of its operations obtain access to confidential information.

Standard & Poor's analytic services are performed as entirely separate activities in order to preserve the independence of each analytic process. In this regard, STARS, which are published by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services, operates independently from, and has no access to information obtained by Standard & Poor's Rating Services, which may in the course of its operations obtain access to confidential information.

SOURCE  Standard & Poor's