Investors Cheer Allergan's Share Buyback Program, Dividend Initiation Despite Q3 Miss

Allergan PLC AGN delivered below than expected results for the third quarter.

• Reports adjusted EPS of $3.32, misses by $0.26.
• Generates revenue of $3.62 billion, shy of the estimates of $0.07 billion.
• Completed $5 billion share buyback program ahead of schedule.
• Reveals fresh $10 billion accelerated share buyback program.
• Initiates cash dividend in 2017.
• Updates full year adjusted EPS $13.30-$13.50 versus $13.94 expectations.
• Updates revenue of $14.45-$14.65 billion versus $14.72 billion expectations.

CEO and President Brent Saunders commented, "Allergan continues to be among the best positioned biopharmaceutical companies to deliver long-term growth. Our top global products powered our performance in the third quarter, including BOTOX®, RESTASIS®, LINZESS® / CONSTELLA® and Fillers. Our R&D teams continued to deliver exceptional results and build our pipeline with our Open Science R&D approach, including the six new stepping stone acquisitions we announced this quarter. And we substantially added to our share repurchase plan and added a first-ever dividend payable in 2017 to maximize shareholder value.”

The stock edged up by 0.65 percent to $210.01 in the pre-market session.