Ackman takes $1B hit as Valeant tumbles 49%
Somebody give Bill Ackman an aspirin.
Better make it a double.
Shares of the beleaguered hedge fund mogul’s favorite pharmaceutical giant are getting ripped to shreds Tuesday morning, tumbling nearly 50 percent to a more than four-year low after it reported a trifecta of disappointing news:
First quarter profits will be in the range of $1.30 to $1.55 a share, down from a previous forecast of $2.35 to $2.55. Revenue in the three-month period will total $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion — down from a previous estimate that ranged up to $3.1 billion.
In the fourth quarter, Valeant surprised Wall Street by reporting a loss of $336.4 million. Adjusted earnings came in at $2.50 a share, below expectations.
Valeant also shocked investors by saying that if it doesn’t file its already delayed annual report by April 29 it will face a potential “event of default.”
Ackman, whose Pershing Square hedge fund owns 30.7 million shares, or 9 percent, of Valeant, took a paper loss of more than $1.045 billion in mid-afternoon trading.
Valeant shares tumbled to $35.00 in heavy trading — down 81 percent in the last year.