Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA)

Generic drugs. Teva will benefit from an aging population and a growing push by governments to make drugs cheaper. However, Teva has been facing competition from other generic makers. In the long term, though, this will be a winner in this space.

A leader in generic pharmaceuticals. It's sold off the past few years and he hasn't look at it recently. Hold on. It's bottoming. Look at its fundamentals. This is the right sector, but do your homework on it.

He used to own it in the mid-2000's when they were positioned to benefit from new drugs coming off patent. This ended around 2011. Today, they have a lot of debt, and face declining drug prices.

This became the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world who then took on debt to produce their own drugs. This has not worked out well. He would not be a holder of this, due to the competition in the space and the high debt levels. (Analysts’ price target is $21)

This company lost its identity as it evolved. Was it primarily a drug company or a marketer of generics? Its price dropped substantially after its main drug came off patent. Since then, the CEO left and the Board has reorganized. However, Teva still has a lot of debt. The debt load was moderate, but earnings have fallen so much that the debt has become relatively much more important, making this a risky investment. 16. 3M (MMM-N)(Doesn’t own)(Buy on weakness). This company did very well when value stocks were in favor, and has traded down. It is modestly priced compared to its historical levels, not cheap. This would be a good company to buy at a discount and hold for a long time.

Generic drug manufacturer. Too many operational issues on this company for them to buy it. Probably closer to the bottom but they would like to see more quarters of solid turn-around. They like other companies better in the space. (Analysts’ price target is $18.00)

An Israeli company that trades in the US. The largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world. They went through a difficult management period after its founder passed away. The important part of the generics is not really the molecule part (if you have smart people you can copy the molecules). The important part is the legal aspect. And here this company is very very strong. It is going to take a while to restructure the company, but they have a great franchise. Over a 3 to 5 years’ time horizon it is a great story to buy.

Teva or Pfizer? He sold Teva 18 months ago. Generic drug prices are under pressure though have levelled off. Their migraine drug has struggled. Instead, he prefers Pfizer with 140 drugs generating $100 million in revenues. They make good acquisitions and are enjoying great progress in oncology. They're also repatriating $24.5 billion with $5 million going to buybacks. Just announced they want to sell their consumer products division, so the impact of this is unknown. 12x forward earnings. Fabulously run company. Talk of major acquisitions. Happy to hold this.