Teva Pharmaceutical Shares Plunge on CEO Resignation

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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After denying rumors earlier this week that its CEO was considering resigning, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) announced Wednesday morning that President and Chief Executive Jeremy Levin indeed will depart from the company. Levin has been CEO since May of 2012.

Chief Financial Officer Eyal Desheh will serve as president and CEO of Teva on an interim basis, effective immediately, the company said. Desheh has been with Teva for 12 years.

The Israel-based generic-drug maker announced earlier this month its plans to reduce its global workforce by 10%, or about 5,000 employees, part of a cost-cutting plan as it prepares for lower-priced competition to its best-selling multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone. Teva’s sales and earnings have declined this year, in part due to weakness in its core generics business in the United States and Europe.

“I categorically deny the rumours suggesting that I am considering resigning from the management of Teva,” Levin said on Monday, following reports of strong differences of opinion between Levin and Chairman Phillip Frost over the implementation of Teva’s new strategy. But that was then.

The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter results on Thursday. The consensus forecast calls for $1.26 per share in earnings and $5.00 billion in revenue. That compares to $1.28 per share on $4.97 billion in the same period of last year. On Tuesday, CNBC’s Jim Cramer advised investors to take profits.

But the share price was down about 5% in premarket trading Wednesday to $39.00. The 52-week range is $36.63 to $42.83. Analysts had a mean price target of $44.16 before this news broke.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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