Debt-ridden Valeant's 3rd-qtr beats expectations

Canada’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (Nasdaq: MYL), which has been shedding former acquisitions like confetti in order to reduce its debt burden, today reported better-than-expected third-quarter 2017 financials, boosted by its ophthalmic business Bausch + Lomb, sending the firm’s shares up 14.7% to $13.80 shortly after markets opened this morning.

Group revenue for the quarter slumped 10.5% to $2.22 billion, but beat consensus estimates of $2.15 billion from analysts, who were clearly not expecting too much.

Net income attributable to Valeant was $1.30 billion, or $3.69 per share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $1.22 billion, or $3.49 per share, in the like year-earlier period.