May 24, 2012–Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA) dropped to the lowest level this year in New York after Morgan Stanley said the Israeli company is losing its share of the U.S. generic drug market.

American depositary receipts of Teva, the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, slumped 1.5 percent to $38.58 in New York yesterday, the lowest since Nov. 29. Teva’s Israeli shares rose 0.5 percent to 150.2 shekels, or the equivalent of $39 at 10:31 a.m. in Tel Aviv. The Bloomberg Israel-US Equity Index (ISRA25BN) of the most-traded Israeli companies in New York retreated 0.7 percent to 81.85. Partner Communications Co. (PTNR) (PTNR) fell to the lowest in almost nine years in the U.S. after first-quarter profit tumbled 43 percent.

Teva, which reported first-quarter sales that missed analysts’ estimates, is lagging behind competitors Mylan Inc. and Watson (WPI) (WPI) Pharmaceuticals Inc. this year as Jeremy Levin, a former Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. executive, replaced Shlomo Yanai this month as chief executive officer. The company’s share of generic drug sales in the U.S. fell to 14 percent in the 12 months ended March 31, compared with 21 percent in 2010, according to Morgan Stanley.

“What’s really spooked the market is that you have new management, they didn’t provide guidance and now you see their generic sales are down,” Richard Gussow, senior analyst at DS Securities & Investments, said by phone from Tel Aviv yesterday. “This is another layer of uncertainty and investors don’t like uncertainty.’…Read More>>

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