Analysts enthuse over Teva results.
William Blair, Deutsche Bank, Hambrecht and Clal Finance Batucha have renewed their recommendation for the company stock.
Roee Bergman 1 Mar 06 14:59
Israeli generic pharmaceutical giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) received a further boost today as leading investment houses covering the company released updated recommendations for the company stock, following publication yesterday of the company’s results for 2005.
Teva posted net profit of $1.072 billion for 2005, crossing for the first time the billion dollar threshold in bottom line earnings. Sales for 2005 totaled $5.3 billion.
Deutsche Bank today reiterated its “Buy” rating for Teva, raising its target price for the stock from $41 to $48 a share, 14% above yesterday’s closing price on Wall Street.
Deutsche Bank issued preliminary forecasts for the company that include those of Ivax Diagnostics Inc, (AMEX: IVD), which was recently acquired by Teva. They predicted that the company would post $9.2 billion revenue and earnings per share of $2.04 a share for 2006 (including Ivax results). Revenues for 2007 would increase to $10.6 billion with earnings of $2.37 a share, results that would include the synergy between Teva and Ivax.
Deutsche Bank analysts also noted that Teva has a pipeline of 160 drugs with total branded sales in the US of more than $94 billion.
William Blair yesterday reiterated its “Outperform” rating for Teva stock, although they did not give a target price. It noted that Teva had a stable year in 2005, with 2006 expected to be an especially strong year for the company.
Following suit was Hambrecht who also reiterated its “Buy” rating, setting a target price of $50 a share for Teva stock, which it expected to continue its upside.
Hambrecht said they viewed the Teva-Ivax combination as the optimal company with the best stock, the best product pipeline and the best strategic ranking of all the generic pharmaceutical manufacturers. They have left unchanged their forecast which sees Teva recording a earnings per share of $1.90 on revenues of $8.9 billion.
Clal Finance Batucha noted that the approval for Teva’s second ethical drug Azilect was still pending and would be a pleasant surprise once it is finally given during the upcoming quarter.
Clal continued its coverage of Teva with a “Buy” rating and a target price of $50 per share.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 1, 2006
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