Perrigo (PRGO) Postpones Q4 Earnings Results, Shares Down

Perrigo Company plc (NYSE:PRGO) has announced that it will reschedule fourth-quarter 2017 and full-year earnings results as it requires some more time to complete its year-end tax review procedures. Results were earlier expected on Feb 27. However, the company has provided preliminary unaudited results for 2017.

The company said that it will be lying low for a while and refrain from issuing any further financial updates until its earnings release date gets scheduled.

Perrigo’s shares fell almost 4% at pre-market trading on Feb 27 following the preliminary release. Shares of the company have underperformed the industry in a year’s time. The stock has gained 4.3% compared with the industry’s 16% rally.

2017 Preliminary Results

Perrigo expects net sales for 2017 at approximately $4.9 billion, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 6.3%. The sales number was in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

However, excluding the impact of the divested European distribution businesses as well as the Israel API business besides the negative impact of competitive pressures and price erosion on the company’s marketed drug, Entocort, adjusted net sales registered 1.3% growth on a constant currency basis.

Effective Jan 1, 2018, the company’s new reporting segments are: Consumer Health Care Americas (CHCA), Consumer Health Care International (CHCI) and Prescription Pharmaceuticals (RX).

CHCA:The preliminary CHCA net sales for 2017 came in at $2.4 billion, down 3.1%. However, adjusted net sales are expected to inch up 1.4% on a constant currency basis.

CHCI:The company expects net sales of $1.5 billion from the CHCI segment, down 9.8% from the year-ago period. Excluding contributions from the divested European distribution businesses, sales are expected to increase approximately 2.6% on constant currency.

Prescription Pharmaceuticals (RX): The Prescription Pharmaceuticals segment is expected to report net sales of $0.97 billion, in line with the prior-year results. This excludes the year-over-year impact of Entocort.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Perrigo carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN) , Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) and Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) . While Regeneron sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Exelixis and Enanta carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Regeneron’s earnings per share estimates have moved up from $17.13 to $18.65 and from $20.38 to $21.56 for 2018 and 2019, respectively, in the last 30 days. The company pulled off a positive earnings surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 9.15%.

Exelixis’ earnings per share estimates have been revised upward from 73 cents to 77 cents for 2018 in the last 60 days. The company delivered a positive surprise in the last four quarters, the average beat being 572.92%. Share price of the company has rallied 27.8% over a year.

Enanta Pharma came up with a positive surprise in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 373.1%. Share price of the company has skyrocketed 166.8% over a year.

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