UPDATE: Teva Q4 Profit Meets Estimates

reported in-line earnings for the fourth quarter and reaffirmed its earnings outlook for the full year. The Petach Tikva, Israel-based company posted quarterly earnings of $687 million, or $0.80 an American depositary share, compared to $380 million, or $0.45 an ADS, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company earned $1.31 an ADS. Its revenue declined 4.8% to $5.17 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.31 an ADS on revenue of $5.16 billion. Teva's generic medicine sales slipped 7.9% to $2.47 billion, while specialty medicine sales increased 1% to $2.24 billion. Global sales of its drug Copaxone dropped 2% to $1.1 billion. Input costs dropped 10% to $2.28 billion. Gross margin widened to 55.9% from 53.3%. At December 31, 2014, Cash and investments amounted to $2.6 billion. "In order to take a great leap forward you must first create a solid foundation from which to drive sustainable profitable growth. 2014 was that year for Teva, where we established a stable underlying base from which we will grow in the coming years. We reenergized our business around our core capabilities and growth engines – regaining our leading position in generics; narrowing the focus on core therapeutic areas in specialty; managing the lifecycle of key products; and significantly improving our operating profitability and cash-flow generation," stated Erez Vigodman, CEO of Teva. Teva shares rose 0.19% to $56.58 in pre-market trading.