Here's Why Valeant (VRX) Stock Is Soaring Today
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) stock is climbing by 11.44% to $80.88 in afternoon trading on Thursday, following an "overweight" rating initiation of the company's debt at Citigroup.
Citigroup urges investors to "opportunistically add risk to their portfolios."
The firm acknowledged that the pharmaceutical company is facing heightened scrutiny about its pricing practices, including subpoenas from the Department of Justice, a Congressional inquiry and questions about its revenue model.
"While this is never good news for an industry that relies, in part, on price hikes to drive margins, we think investor reaction has been largely overdone as many of the bond tranches have traded down over 20 points from recent highs," Citigroup said in a note.
Most of the negativity surrounding the company is now priced into the stock, the firm adds.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL (VRX) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself, unimpressive growth in net income and generally higher debt management risk.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- The revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 3.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 35.5%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- Net operating cash flow has increased to $736.40 million or 19.02% when compared to the same quarter last year. The firm also exceeded the industry average cash flow growth rate of -0.70%.
- VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL turned its bottom line around by earning $2.67 versus -$2.62 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($11.32 versus $2.67).
- The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. In comparison to the other companies in the Pharmaceuticals industry and the overall market, VALEANT PHARMACEUTICALS INTL's return on equity is significantly below that of the industry average and is below that of the S&P 500.
- Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 43.73%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 82.71% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Although its share price is down sharply from a year ago, do not assume that it can now be tagged as cheap and attractive. The reality is that, based on its current price in relation to its earnings, VRX is still more expensive than most of the other companies in its industry.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: VRX
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.