WCRX - Warner Chilcott Plc NASDAQ Stock

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Interesting:

Today's News, May 14, 2012
9:40a Warner Chilcott Spokesperson Confirms Company Cancelled Out of Bank of America Conference Due to Ongoing Strategic Alternative Review

Stock is up 1.5% in a down market today.

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Watson Confirms Generic Challenge To Warner Chilcott Low-Dose Birth Control
10:02a ET May 18, 2012 (Dow Jones) Watson Confirms Generic Challenge To Warner Chilcott Low-Dose Birth Control

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. (WPI) confirmed Friday it has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market a generic alternative to Warner Chilcott PLC's (WCRX) low-dose birth control Lo Loestrin Fe.
Generic drug makers aiming to bring cheaper copies of major drugs to market have been a consistent thorn in the side of branded manufacturers like Warner Chilcott.
Watson said Friday that Warner Chilcott on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the company concerning its patents on the Lo Loestrin. A spokesperson for Warner Chilcott could not immediately be reached for comment.
Patent disputes are common in the drug industry and Warner Chilcott has lost such battles before. Mylan Inc. (MYL) this month launched a generic version of its Doryx acne drug after winning the approval of a federal court weighing in on a dispute between the two companies.
Shares of Warner Chilcott were recently off 16 cents to $20.01. Shares of Watson were also trading lower at $70.70.

Current stock price: $20.14

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WCRX, Watson Pharma in Legal Tussle - Analyst Blog
3:23p ET May 23, 2012 (Zacks.com) Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (WPI) recently announced that it has filed an abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval to market its generic version of Warner Chilcott’s (WCRX) Lo Loestrin FE. Approval has been sought to market the generic version of the drug for the prevention of pregnancy.

In response, Warner Chilcott filed a suit against Watson Pharma in an U.S. District Court, to prevent the latter from selling its generic version of Lo Loestrin FE prior to the expiration of the drug’s patents in the U.S.

By filing the patent infringement lawsuit, Warner Chilcott has ensured that the ANDA cannot be cleared by the U.S. regulatory body for up to 30 months from the date that Warner Chilcott received notice of the ANDA filing or until the matter is resolved in court, whichever happens earlier.

We note that the branded version of the drug was launched by Warner Chilcott in January 2011. According to data released by IMS Health, the drug recorded sales of approximately $86 million in the U.S. for the twelve months ended March 31, 2012.

We note that Warner Chilcott received some disappointing news on the generic front in April 2012 regarding the 150 mg dosage of its dermatological product Doryx. On April 30, 2012, a U.S. district court issued a verdict regarding Mylan Laboratories (MYL) and Impax Laboratories’ (IPXL) applications to the FDA to sell their generic versions of the drug. The court ruled that the generic versions of neither company infringed the patent of Doryx. Following the verdict, Mylan entered the U.S. market with its generic version of Doryx 150 mg.

Following the adverse court ruling regarding Doryx 150 mg, Warner Chilcott trimmed its 2012 guidance. The company expects to earn in the range of $3.30-$3.40 per share (on an adjusted basis) on revenues between $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion. Earlier, the company had said that it expected to end 2012 with adjusted earnings in the range of $3.60-$3.70 per share on revenues between $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion.

Neutral on Warner Chilcott and Watson Pharma

Currently, we are Neutral on both Warner Chilcott and Watson Pharma in the long run. However, the short-term ratings are different. While Warner Chilcott carries a Zacks #4 Rank (Sell rating), Watson Pharma carries a Zacks #2 Rank (Buy rating) in the short run.

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The company has been awefully quiet about the potential buyout offer. It seems people have lost patience or forgot about it. This stock could potentially return some huge profits with estimates of $25-$32 on a buyout offer. IMO, it's well worth taking a speculative position. I'm still holding and I may add if the PPS slips to below $19. I still think they are VERY serious about selling the company and when the news comes it will too late to buy.

Current stock price: $19.70

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Seems people have quickly forgotten this stock and potential buyout.

Current stock price: $17.86

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Prime example of how people forgot about a potential $25/share offer:

Bearish MACD for Warner Chilcott Plc - Tale of the Tape
10:16a ET June 29, 2012 (Zacks.com) Warner Chilcott Plc ’s (WCRX) MACD indicator has moved into bearish territory with a reading of –0.3153. The Zacks #4 Rank (“Sell”) stock decreased more than 0.98% to $18.19 in morning trade. The Zacks Consensus Estimate on the company’s earnings for the year ending December 2012 has decreased by 25 cents over the past two months to $3.42 per share.

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Top 4 Mid-Cap Stocks In The Drug Manufacturers-Other Industry With The Lowest PEG Ratio
4:38a ET July 24, 2012 (Benzinga) Below are the top mid-cap drug manufacturers-other stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of PEG ratio.

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) has a PEG ratio of 0.44. United Therapeutics' trailing-twelve-month revenue is $784.89 million.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (NYSE: RDY) has a PEG ratio of 0.72. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories had $328.10 million in total cash for the latest quarter.

Endo Health Solutions (NASDAQ: ENDP) has a PEG ratio of 0.80. Endo Health Solutions' trailing-twelve-month operating margin is 19.11%.

Warner Chilcott plc (NASDAQ: WCRX) has a PEG ratio of 1.27. Warner Chilcott's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 580.41%.

Current stock price: $16.95

All is quiet on the buyout front.....that doesn't mean it's dead and $25+/share is still viable.

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Warner Chilcott Announces Earnings Release Date and Conference Call for Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results
4:15p ET July 26, 2012 (GlobeNewswire) Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq:WCRX) today announced that it will issue its second quarter 2012 financial results prior to the market opening on Friday, August 3, 2012.

In addition to issuing a press release, the Company will host a conference call for all interested parties on Friday, August 3, 2012 at 8:00 AM (Eastern Time) to review the results. To participate in the call, please dial (877) 354-4056 in the United States and Canada or (678) 809-1043 internationally.

Investors and other interested parties may also access the conference call via a simultaneous audio webcast by visiting http://ir.wcrx.com and clicking on Events & Presentations.

Current stock price: $17.47

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Warner Chilcott PLC's (WCRX) second-quarter earnings fell 26% due to a steep decline in women's health-care product sales.

The company raised its adjusted per-share earnings guidance for the year, calling for earnings of $3.55 to $3.65. It had previously forecast $3.30 to $3.40 a share. It affirmed its revenue guidance.

The maker of women's health-care and dermatology products is attracting increased focus after previously confirming that it is holding preliminary talks with potential buyers as part of a broad view of options for its business.

Warner Chilcott has continued to struggle with sagging sales of osteoprosis treatment drug Actonel, which slumped 22% to $150 million in the second quarter.

Oral contraceptive product sales rose 17%, while total hormone therapy sales edged up 8.2%.

For the latest quarter, the company posted a profit of $53 million, or 21 cents a share, compared with $72 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Including after-tax impacts of amortization among other items, cash net earnings were $1.03 a share in the latest quarter.

Total revenue fell 4.7% to $638 million, driven by a fall in Actonel sales. Selling and administrative costs dropped 30%.

Analysts were looking for earnings of 80 cents a share on revenue of $606 million, according to a poll conducted by Thomson Reuters.

Gross margin widened fractionally to 88.7% from 88.3%.

Shares closed Thursday at $16.66 and were inactive premarket. The stock is down 23% in the past three months.

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9:38a ET August 8, 2012 (Benzinga) Canaccord Genuity reiterated its Buy rating on Warner Chilcott (NASDAQ: WCRX) but reduced its price target from $25 to $18 following the company's conclusion of a strategic review.

Canaccord Genuity said, "WCRX announced it has completed its strategic review with the result being a return of capital: another special dividend, a new ongoing dividend and share buyback renewal. We expect initial reaction to be disappointment at a lack of company sale or deal by WCRX, which could lead to some weakness with the upside case removed."

Warner Chilcott closed at $17.77 on Tuesday.

Warner Chilcott Unveils Special Dividend; Ceases Talks for Offers
5:14p ET August 7, 2012 (Dow Jones) Warner Chilcott Unveils Special Dividend; Ceases Talks for Offers

By Nathalie Tadena

Warner Chilcott PLC (WCRX) said it has ceased discussions regarding potential offers for the company as it also unveiled a series of shareholder-friendly moves, including a special dividend.
Shares of the maker of women's health-care and dermatology products had been halted ahead of the news Tuesday and slipped 4.3% to $17 in recent after-hours trading. The stock is off 18% over the past three months.

Under a proposed recapitalization plan, the company said it plans to incur $600 million of new debt that will be used, with available cash, to fund a special dividend of $4 a share. It plans to pay the special dividend before the end of the third quarter. Warner Chilcott also disclosed a new annual dividend program of 50 cents a share, which will be paid in semi-annual installments of 25 cents a share. The company also authorized another $250 million in share redemptions. Warner Chilcott's existing program allowed the company to buy back up to $250 million of its shares, under which $88 million had been redeemed.


Warner Chilcott expects the proposed recapitalization plan to have minimal impact on its 2012 results. The company in April confirmed it was holding preliminary talks with potential buyers as part of a broad view of options for its business. Last week, Warner Chilcott reported second-quarter earnings fell 26% due to a steep decline in women's health-care product sales.