JPMorgan says Teva Pharmaceutical is unlikely to be popular because it continues to be weighed down by underperformance in several business areas. Analyst Chris Schott downgraded the stock from neutral to lower and lowered his price target to $10 from $11, as he still doesn’t believe in the long-term growth story when compared to other pharmaceutical names. The new price target implies a gain of just 5.5% from Friday’s closing price. “TEVA has made significant progress in addressing its debt and cost structure over the past few years but we continue to struggle with the relative lack of growth in our portfolio over time,” he said in a note to customers. Schott said the latest example of that uncertainty can be found in the company’s third-quarter results, which showed Teva severely missed top expectations, due to weakness in general services. of the company. He said it is difficult to see growth in places like generics that “constantly underperform” while having “limited visibility” of how well it will perform as biosimilars can increase. enter the Humira market next year. The company has been able to offset revenue pressures by reducing operating costs, but he said it may need to invest more in itself to ensure long-term financial health. Schott noted that the company has been able to continue paying off debt which is a positive, but said it will need to continue allocating cash to pay for this. This and the CEO transition, he said, will create fewer opportunities for the company to divert attacks than industry peers such as Organon and Viatris. The stock’s performance could be affected by improvements in generics, a favorable opioid deal, or whether the company can stave off competition on migraine drug Ajovy. Teva was down 2.3% on premarket and up 18.4% year-over-year. — Michael Bloom of CNBC contributed to this report.