Earnings Preview: King Pharmaceuticals

King Pharmaceuticals (KG) is expected to report Q3 earnings Thursday, November 5 before market open, with a conference call scheduled for 11:00 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of 27c on revenue of $444.98M. The consensus range is 22c-33c for EPS, and $415M-$458.5M for revenue, according to First Call. Positive factors for this earnings period include the FDA approval of Embeda, a rebound in animal health trends and the Alpharma acquisition. Negative trends for the company continue to include weakness in King's existing pipeline especially from Altace which is now off -patent.

Analyst Views

On September 8, Leerink Swann maintained its Outperform rating on the stock. Leerink said it continues to believe that King's Embeda will gain meaningful market share from both Morphine ER and Oxycontin. The firm thinks King may report better than expected EPS from 2010-2013. :