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What to do with Valeant

What to do with Valeant

Valeant (Toronto Stock Exchange: VRX-CA)'s dramatic rise and fall has been documented blunder-to-blunder.

After a series of missteps that included accounting misstatements and oversights by ousted CEO Michael Pearson, Valeant has seen its stock plummet to just $26. This comes after the drug company traded at an all-time high of $263 back in August.

On his investor call today, famed hedge fund manager Bill Ackman announced that he will be sticking with Valeant, and that he expects to eventually regain his losses. His fund—Pershing Square—has lost about a billion dollars since taking the position last March.

So, should you stick with Valeant if you own it? If it's not in your portfolio, is it now an attractive buy?

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The "Halftime Report" experts debated how to play the stock.

Jon Najarian and GFI Group's John Spallanzani both own Valeant.

Spallanzani believes that now is the time to get into the stock for a number of reasons. Earlier today Valeant board member Bill Ackman said that the search for a new CEO will likely culminate in a matter of weeks. Spallanzani believes the relatively short search is a good sign, and an indication that there will be stability going forward.

Spallanzani also thinks that the termination of the Pfizer-Allergan merger could be beneficial down the line for Valeant. Right now he's recommending exposure through risk reversal, which means selling $25 puts to buy $35 calls from May onward.

Jon Najarian owns the stock and is short puts, a position he picked up 10 days ago. He likes the stock here because he thinks "it's priced as if the company is going out of business." He also noted that timing was important. He took advantage of the volatility two weeks ago, which has since come down "dramatically."

Steve Weiss, on the other hand, is not a buyer here. His primary issue with the company is its valuation - or rather the fact that he does not believe it can be valued. "Until the filings are out, you can't analyze it [Valeant]," he said.

Weiss thinks a better bet right now is the biotech sector. Down 16% over the past year, the IBB (NASDAQ: IBB) has shown signs of a bottom, he argued.

Trader disclosure: On April 5, 2016 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Halftime Report" were owned by the "Halftime Report" traders:

Jon Najarian: Long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA,KMI, MKI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, RAX, RIG. Long calls AAPL, AGN, BAC, BAX, COP, CRM, ECA, GE, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KO, MDLZ, MSFT, RAX, RIG, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP,EWZ, GDX. Long puts VLO, VRX, WYNN

Pete Najarian: Long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA,GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE. Long calls AAL, AAPL, AGN, AKS, AMJ, BAC, BAX, CL, COP, CRM, DAL, ECA, EGO, GE, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KO, KSS, LC,MDLZ, MET, MS, MSFT, POT, SCHW, SLW, SLV, SPG, TCK, UAL, WYNN, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP, EWZ, GDX. Long Puts HES, PMR, RY, VLO

John Spallanzani: Long AXP, BAC, BZH, C, CHK, DHT, DSEEY, FMCC, FXI, GDX, GLNG, GPRO, ICA, INDL, IWM, KBH, MS, MTU, NAT, NMR, QQQ, SCTY, SMFG, SNE, SPY, SYF, SWHC, T, TK, TNP, TRIP, TWTR, VRX, XME, YHOO

Steve Weiss: Long AAL, AGN, C, CVC, NBIX, SRPT, VIAB



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