Teva Outperforms Analysts’ Predictions

The Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva outperformed the forecasts of analysts in its report for the fourth quarter of 2020 and full year 2020, Globes said on Wednesday.

Non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.68 in the fourth quarter were higher than the analysts’ consensus of $0.63. Non-GAAP earnings per share for 2020 of $2.57 were above the analysts’ expectations of $2.51.

Teva sees 2021 revenue of between $16.4 billion and $16.8 billion, not much growth if any above the 2020 revenue of $16.659 billion, which was down 1% from 2019.

As of December 31, 2020, Teva’s debt was $25.919 billion, compared with $26.908 billion as of December 31, 2019.

Teva president and CEO Kåre Schultz said, “In 2020, Teva continued to provide essential medicines to millions of patients around the world every day, and despite the Covid-19 pandemic challenges, we saw minimal impact on our supply chain, R&D programs and product launches. Following a strong fourth quarter performance, we have met all components of our 2020 financial guidance.”

More specifically, Schultz cited “the continued growth of Austedo and our leading biosimilar Truxima, as Ajovy sales continued to improve following the launch of the auto-injector. Our generic performance was boosted by the successful launch of the generic versions of HIV-1 treatments Truvada and Atripla tablets in the US. We have also taken steps to strengthen our biopharmaceutical pipeline, with a biosimilar commercialization agreement, and are advancing other pipeline assets, including the recently announced positive results from the phase 3 trial of risperidone extended-release injectable for patients with schizophrenia.”

Teva’s share price fell by 1.5% in 2020 but before today rose 30% since the start of 2021. However, the share price was down 8.5% in Wednesday morning trading on Nasdaq, giving the company a market cap of $13.05 billion, Globes said.

Meanwhile, Teva confirmed to Reuters that it’s holding talks with COVID-19 vaccine makers to co-produce some shots.

“We do have some discussions with originators of the original vaccines. We have not come to any conclusion,” Schultz said.

“In principle, we are positive towards contributing by manufacturing some of those vaccines that either have been approved or are just about to be approved,” he said, declining to elaborate.