Image source: Akorn, Inc.
What: Following the release of its preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year financials, shares in Akorn (NASDAQ: AKRX) are rallying 39.05% at 1:00 p.m. Tuesday.
So what: The mid-sized generic pharmaceutical company reports that preliminary full-year sales clocked in at $985 million, and that those sales translated into adjusted EPS of $1.93.
Sales were supported by 15 FDA product approvals that resulted in 12 new product launches targeting markets with combined revenue of $577 million.
The company also provided guidance for 2016 that includes a sales target of between $1.06 and $1.08 billion and adjusted EPS within a range of $2.10 to $2.20.
Further, the company updated investors on its progress in getting up-to-date on its audited financials with the SEC. The company says it's completed a review of its 2014 financials and that it estimates it overstated revenue that year by $35 million. Akorn's management believes it's on track to file its 2014 and 2015 financials with the SEC by May 9, 2016.
Now what: The company's shares have been weighed down by worry over what would be discovered by auditors, and given that the amount estimated to be restated hasn't changed since the last management update, and filings are on schedule to be brought current in the next few months, a major overhang could soon be removed.
If so, then investors may be right to be cheering Akorn's results. After all, even after today's rally, the company's shares are still trading at only 13.3 times this year's profit outlook.
