Drugmaker Merck tops 3Q forecasts as Keytruda sales jump 20%
Oct 27, 2022, 5:22 AM | Updated: 5:30 am
Merck turned in a better-than-expected third quarter and raised its 2022 forecast as the drugmaker’s top seller brought in over a third of its revenue.
Sales of the cancer fighter Keytruda grew 20% to more than $5.4 billion in the quarter and would have jumped 26% without the impact of foreign exchange rates, Merck said Thursday.
The drugmaker also saw sales for its Gardasil vaccine grow 15% to $2.3 billion. That vaccine protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus infections.
Overall, Merck’s total revenue grew 14% to $14.96 billion in the quarter, and adjusted earnings totaled $1.85 per share.
Analysts were expecting earnings per share of $1.67 on $14.05 billion in revenue, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Merck’s bottom line fell 29% in the quarter to $3.25 billion as research and development costs and other expenses rose.
The Rahway, New Jersey-based company now expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.32 to $7.37 per share. That’s a higher and narrower forecast than what it predicted in July.
Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $7.34 per share from Merck in 2022, according to FactSet.
Company shares jumped 2% to top $100 in premarket trading Thursday. That would mark a new all-time high price in regular trading, according to FactSet.
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