Allergan 1st-qtr earnings beat expectations, but sales miss

Shares Ireland-incorporated drugmaker Allergan (Nasdaq: AGN) were up 5.9% at $226.29 mid-morning, after the company posted first-quarter 2016 earnings results that beat analysts’ expectations and announced a share buyback program of up to $10 billion.

Allergan reported net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of $186.1 million, or earnings per share of $0.47, compared with a loss of $535.2 million, or $1.85 per share, in the like year-earlier period. Excluding special items, the company earned $3.04 per share, slightly above the average analysts' estimate of $3.01, according to Thomson Reuters.

Allergan, the subject of an abandoned $160 billion tax inversion-based takeover by Pfizer and in the process of selling its generics business to Israel’s Teva, reported a loss from continuing operations of $81.7 million, or a loss of $0.38 a share in the quarter.