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The head office and logo of Valeant Pharmaceuticals is shown in Laval, Que., on May 27, 2013. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. reported a profit of $1.3 billion in its latest quarter, boosted by a one-time gain related to an internal tax reorganization.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzThe Canadian Press

Volatility, thy name is Valeant.

Earnings day is typically a market-mover for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., the roll-up drugseller that's struggling to craft a comeback story. In three of its last four post-results trading sessions, the stock has moved by double digits – sometimes up, sometimes down. A year ago, the shares dropped nearly 14 per cent on its 2016 results; in May, the first-quarter numbers sent the stock up 24 per cent in a day.

So don't rule out major action Wednesday after its pre-market release, particularly since analysts who still cover the stock remain tepid on the shares. There are just four buy ratings out of the 22 analysts who cover the shares, and the stock, which closed Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange at US$18.50, has outpaced the average target price of US$18.32.

While analyst Neil Maruoka of Canaccord Genuity upped his target price Monday to US$18 from $16, he sounds a common theme: Competition in the generic-drugs space is causing him to moderate his revenue expectations for Valeant. His target price boost, however, comes as the company is fixing its balance sheet, having repaid about $2-billion of debt in recent months.

Analysts expect, on average, adjusted earnings per share of 97 cents, according to Bloomberg. But Valeant has beaten EPS expectations three of the last four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon, and the company remains notoriously difficult to forecast. With Valeant's TSX-traded shares down about 9 per cent so far in 2018, a beat would go a long way to silencing skeptics – at least for a quarter.

For more stable results, Wednesday continues Canadian bank-earnings season, with National Bank of Canada and Laurentian Bank of Canada up. In Tuesday's trading, Bank of Montreal failed to capture the industry momentum from CIBC's kickoff triumph, with its shares falling 1.4 per cent. Bank of Nova Scotia, however, gained 1.4 per cent. National Bank and Laurentian both fell in Tuesday's trading ahead of Wednesday's reports.

On average, analysts expect $1.42 in EPS from National Bank and $1.54 from Laurentian, according to Eikon. One year ago, National Bank topped its first-quarter expectations by 7.2 per cent, part of a string of earnings beats. Laurentian's first-quarter 2017 surprise was 2 per cent, but it's coming off a fourth-quarter miss, Eikon says.

Also releasing quarterly results Wednesday is Torstar Corp.

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