William Blair & Company Initiates Coverage of Digirad Corporation With Outperform Rating CHICAGO, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- William Blair & Company today announced that it initiated research coverage of Digirad Corporation (NASDAQ:DRAD) ($9.00), a player in the $300 million market for nuclear cardiology diagnostic equipment, with an Outperform rating and company profile of Aggressive Growth. Analyst Ben Andrew estimated that the company, which is just beginning to penetrate the $2.7 billion potential market for mobile imaging services through its Digirad Imaging Solutions (DIS) unit, would earn $0.01 per share in 2004 and $0.22 per share in 2005 on a fully taxed basis. "Digirad's unique and proprietary solid-state digital gamma camera represents a significant advance over the traditionally analog gamma cameras that still rely on a large array of vacuum tube detectors," Andrew said. "Cardiologists with whom we have spoken indicate that aside from all the physical advantages of the Digirad system (smaller footprint, low weight, patient comfort, etc.), the images they provide are simply sharper and more detailed than those from competitive devices." William Blair & Company, L.L.C., founded in 1935, is a Chicago-based investment firm offering investment banking, asset management, equity research, institutional and private brokerage, and private capital to individual, institutional, and issuing clients. As an independent, employee- owned firm, our philosophy is to serve our clients' interests first and foremost. We place a high value on the enduring nature of our client relationships, the quality of our products and services, and the continuity and integrity of our people. For more information, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/ . William Blair & Company, L.L.C. has received compensation for investment banking services from the company within the past 12 months, or expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services in the next 3 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. was a manager or co-manager of a public offering of equity securities within the prior 12 months. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a market maker in the security of this company and may have a long or short position. For important disclosures and information regarding the firm's rating system, valuation methods and potential conflicts of interest, please visit: http://www.williamblair.com/pages/news_story.asp?uid=686 . Additional information is available upon request. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, CRD number 1252. DATASOURCE: William Blair & Company, L.L.C. CONTACT: Tony Zimmer of William Blair & Company, L.L.C., +1-312-364-8611, Web site: http://www.williamblair.com/

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