Medical Distributors Stocks Fall After Opioid Data Reports
July 17 2019 - 5:15PM
Dow Jones News
By Gunjan Banerji
Shares of medical distributors and other health-care companies
took a hit on Wednesday, and their pain may not be short-lived.
AmerisourceBergen Corp. fell 4%, while Cardinal Health Inc. shed
3.7%. McKesson Corp. lost about 3%. All three performed worse than
the broader U.S. stock market on Wednesday.
Their declines come after news reports revealed new government
data on information about opioid sales and distribution before
2013.
Wednesday's drop puts a pause on solid performance for the
medical distributors so far this year.
AmerisourceBergen has gained 15% in 2019, while McKesson is up
about 25%. Cardinal has edged higher about 1% this year.
Other pharmaceutical companies have also had a rough week. CVS
Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. simultaneously fell
on Wednesday.
Morgan Stanley downgraded pharmaceutical companies Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Endo International PLC to
"underweight" earlier this week, saying that they are exposed to
opioid litigation. Teva lost 6.3% on Wednesday while Endo fell
about 5.2%. Shares of both have lost more than 50% this year.
"Opioid litigation is just getting started. There are thousands
of lawsuits, and we see the potential for negative litigation
developments over the next few years," wrote Morgan Stanley
analysts in a note on Monday.
Write to Gunjan Banerji at Gunjan.Banerji@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2019 17:00 ET (21:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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