J.P. Morgan Reiterates Overweight Rating on Watson Pharmaceuticals

In a report published Monday, J.P. Morgan & Co. reiterated its Overweight rating on Watson Pharmaceuticals

. J.P. Morgan noted, “This morning, Mallinckrodt announced approval of a generic version of Concerta, and it will be the second player in this market along with Watson. Mallinckrodt's approval is very much a surprise, although another entrant in the Concerta market was generally expected in early 2013. Along these lines, we see a limited impact to Watson's near-term results and potentially even upside to earnings. However, longer term, we could see incremental pressure on Watson estimates assuming the two additional known Concerta filers (Kudco and Impax) are able to get approval, which is still very much an unknown. While we expect WPI shares to be under pressure today, we remain OW given's Watson's increasingly diverse portfolio following the Actavis transaction.” Watson Pharmaceuticals closed on Friday at $89.04.