Investment firm Piper Jaffray called Valeant Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday "not investable" after the Canada-based company posted a weak quarterly profit and slashed its full-year forecasts.
Valeant's shares fell after its earnings announcement.
"We had never viewed the previous ranges as credible," Senior Research Analyst David Amsellem said in a note to investors, citing a litany of problems Valeant is facing in its various business lines. Valent's disclosures "suggest to us that management once again was not being fully transparent (based on comments earlier this year) about the extent of the challenges underlying its businesses."
He reiterated the firm's "underweight" rating and said the firm will review its price target after a model update.
Firm BMO Capital Markets, however, was slightly more hopeful about the pharmaceutical company on Tuesday, calling the quarter "mixed" with a lot of moving parts. The firm maintained its "market perform" rating as it waits to see how Valeant "executes even with the bar lowered."
In midday trading, the company's stock, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, was off around 18 percent from Monday's close.