When it comes to the business world, perception can often become reality. The reputations of Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) and SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS) have all taken major hits. Can the companies and the stocks ever recover?

Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX)

The SEC is still in the process of figuring out exactly what VRX did and didn’t do. But the damage to the company’s reputation was done long ago. Citron’s Andrew Left called VRX “Enron-esque.” Morgan Stanley called the company a “house of cards.”

Once a company gains such a nefarious reputation for predatory pricing and fudging its books, it’s hard to recover. VRX is off to a good start by giving the boot to controversial long-time CEO Michael Pearson.

VRX has also gotten real with shareholders about the company’s earnings outlook, slashing 2016 guidance aggressively for a second time earlier this month.

Assuming VRX escapes its SEC probe relatively unscathed, the company’s main objective will be to convince the market that it actually does have a viable core business model.

Back in March, board member and investor Bill Ackman said that VRX’s core business is worth “multiples of the current market price.” At the time, VRX’s market cap was $11.4 billion. It now rests at $7.5 billion. With $31 billion in debt, there’s no question VRX needs to improve its reputation in a hurry.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG)

CMG isn’t…

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