Left: I No Longer Have Valeant Short

Short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research said he has no position in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc VRX, according to an interview with CNBC.

"Right now the stock is uninvestable. I wouldn't be short Valeant, I wouldn't be long Valeant. Right now there are too many black dots surrounding Valeant and would like to get more information," Left told CNBC.

Left has said Valeant used specialty pharmacy segment Philidor RX to create "phantom" sales.

Related Link: Remember When Citron Called Valeant "The Pharmaceutical Enron"?

On the SEC inquiry, Left said he has given the information to the SEC and said what the SEC is looking at Valeant is not its relationship with Philidor but on the company raising prices on drugs to meet earnings expectations.

"We laid out the case pretty clear and hoping that the nature of the investigation goes way beyond Philidor," Left said.

Apart from the SEC probe, the Canadian pharma company is facing several issues including delayed filing of its 10-K, a potential earnings restatement and a withdrawn 2016 outlook. These issues have eroded investor confidence on the company.

Last month, Wells Fargo's David Maris said Valeant had a greater-than-50 percent chance of bankruptcy. Deutsche Bank suspended its rating on the company, saying it has been "long skeptical" of its business model.

At the time of this publication, shares of Valeant were up 3.06 percent to trade at $67.45.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Posted In: Analyst ColorBiotechCNBCLong IdeasShort IdeasHealth CareTop StoriesAnalyst RatingsMediaTrading IdeasGeneralAndrew LeftCitron ResearchDavid MarisDeutsche BankPhilidor RXWells Fargo
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!