What happened
Shares of Perrigo (PRGO 1.12%) were jumping 9.6% higher as of 3:13 p.m. EST on Thursday. The solid gain came after the healthcare company reported better-than-expected, third-quarter earnings results after the market closed on Wednesday.
So what
Perrigo announced adjusted earnings of $128 million, or $0.93 per share. Although this reflected a decline from the company's adjusted earnings in the prior-year period, it easily beat the consensus analyst estimate of $0.84 per share.
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It wasn't all good news for Perrigo, though. The company's Q3 revenue of $1.21 billion came in below the average analyst estimate of $1.24 billion.
Still, investors were encouraged about Perrigo's future prospects. The company reaffirmed its full-year adjusted-earnings guidance of between $3.95 and $4.15 per share. Perrigo also said that it plans to buy back $150 million of its stock by the end of 2020.
Now what
The COVID-19 pandemic probably presents the biggest question mark concerning the healthcare stock's performance over the next few months. However, the pandemic doesn't necessarily translate to bad news for the company. Perrigo stated in its Q3 earnings release that "future waves of COVID-19 could present both incremental risks as well as opportunities for the company's business."
