The Valeant News No One Is Talking About Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX) has been on a downward spiral. The stock price, which hit a high of $263.81 in August, has been cut by two-thirds after a damning report from Citron Research and the ensuing fallout.
Despite the overwhelmingly negative sentiment, Valeant had quite a day on Thursday, surging 15.72 percent. The single-day gain was by far the most actively traded among stocks up double-digits on Thursday, and Valeant's market capitalization still clocked in above $28 billion at last check.
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There are at least three reasons Valeant had such a great Thursday -- and the third point is flying under the radar.
1. New plans to keep staff. According to a company spokeswoman, Valeant will likely offer further cash and stock incentives to more key U.S. staff in an attempt to avoid mass resignations.
2. Citigroup initiated coverage on Valeant's debt with an Overweight rating, suggesting investors should "opportunistically add risk to their portfolios." The analysts said the "investor reaction has been largely overdone as many of the bond tranches have traded down over 20 points from recent highs."
3. According to a recent the company presented at the Jefferies Autumn 2015 Global Healthcare Conference, the full-year net sales estimate for Salix was raised from $1.2 billion to ~$1.35 billion.
Valeant acquired Salix earlier this year for more than $15 billion. By revenue the company was about one-eighth the size of Valeant at the time of acquisition -- a guidance boost for the segment could be another reason investors are betting on Valeant's stock