
Sell Valeant's Dead-Cat Bounce
Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (VRX) are rising nearly 4% higher Thursday, reaching a session high of $25.24 on reports that the company may restructure its deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) - Get Report to stave off losses on medicines sold through the drugstore chain. Walgreens is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio.
But how much is one deal going to matter?
On Monday I called the stock toxic, warning of further declines in anticipation of Valeant's guidance. The shares plummeted some 22% on Tuesday following the company's wider first-quarter loss and lowered guidance.
Restructuring one contract doesn't merit a 4% rise in the stock price. This seems nothing more than a dead-cat bounce from investors seeking some light at the end of a tunnel. But there isn't any.
What has changed since the announcement? The company had over $31 billion in long-term debt at the end of 2015. And with Valeant still under pressure to lower its drug prices, investors who are buying in today must consider where earnings are going to come from. Any profits that Valeant can generate will be used to pay down the debt, leaving it with no means to invest in R&D to fuel its pipeline.
So where's the value?
From a technical perspective, the charts suggests that a price of $20 or lower could be right around the corner.
With Valeant stock trading 91% below its 52-week high, there's the appeal of the cheap price. But the stock was also cheap on Monday when it traded at around $28.
New investors are using the price-to-earnings argument to suggest there's value. That's a mistake. While its P/E of 3 is significantly below the forward P/E of 17 for the average stock in the S&P 500 (SPX) , Valeant's P/E doesn't factor in its debt nor does it include the loss of assets the company is looking to sell to service the debt.
And how about the reduced guidance?
Valeant forecasts full-year adjusted earnings to be between $6.60 to $7 per share. The prior forecast was for $8.50 to $9.50 per share, which the company set in March under former CEO Michael Pearson. Valeant's mid-point earnings guidance at the beginning of the year of $13.50 as been slashed in half to $6.80. During that span, its revenue forecast has fallen by some $2.6 billion at the mid-point.
The new guidance might still be too aggressive, considering the risk in the Walgreens agreement and Valeant's divestment plans. With the stock bouncing back up to around $24, investors may want to take those gains and run.
This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.










