Teva shares soar 10% on strong revenue in first quarter
Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. jumped 10.3% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company reaffirmed guidance for 2020 and beat revenue expectations for the quarter. Teva had earnings of $25 million, or 6 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2020, against a loss of $97 million, or 10 cents per share, in the same period ago. Adjusted-per-share earnings came to 76 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus pf 59 cents. Revenue was $4.3 billion in the first quarter, up from $4.1 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The FactSet consensus for revenue was $4.1 billion. The company attributed the revenue growth to higher sales of generics and over-the-counter products in Europe and Huntington's disease treatment Austedo in North America. Austedo brought in $122 million in sales in the first quarter of 2020, up from $74 million in the first quarter of 2019. In Europe, increased buying of generic drugs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled sales of those products there. "We estimate that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on advanced purchasing patterns was approximately $100 million," Teva said. The company reaffirmed guidance for the year, with revenues of $16.6 billion to $17 billion and EPS of $2.30 to $2.55. Its stock is up 7.3% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 is down 11.8%.
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