Stocks are struggling for direction today, and one sector that represents this choppiness is blue-chip drugmakers.
Merck (MRK) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.72 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.69 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.03 per share a year ago.
On Tuesday, Merck & Co Inc MRK reported fourth-quarter sales of $15.62 billion, up 7% year over year and slightly beating the consensus estimate of $15.49 billion. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales increased 9%.
Merck's stock tumbled 6% early Tuesday, after the drug company's softer-than-expected guidance for the current year offset better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
Merck on issued full-year 2025 revenue guidance that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. The company said that sales range reflects a decision to halt shipments of Gardasil, a vaccine that prevents cancer from HPV, into China beginning in February through and going through at least mid-2025.
Merck said it will pause shipments of Gardasil to China through at least mid-year, as continued weak demand for the HPV vaccine there is expected to hurt 2025 revenue, but it still posted a strong fourth-quarter profit on sales of cancer drug Keytruda.
Merck shares are down more than 20% over the past 12 months after trouble with sales of its Gardasil vaccine in China
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommends approval for Merck's pneumococcal 21-valent conjugate vaccine, Capvaxive.
MRK's decision to stop the late-stage HYPERION study on PAH drug Winrevair ahead of time comes after evaluating the drug's overall clinical program data.
Looking beyond Wall Street's top -and-bottom-line estimate forecasts for Merck (MRK), delve into some of its key metrics to gain a deeper insight into the company's potential performance for the quarter ended December 2024.
Merck (MRK) has received quite a bit of attention from Zacks.com users lately. Therefore, it is wise to be aware of the facts that can impact the stock's prospects.
Merck plans to stop a late-stage study testing its drug to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) ahead of time based on strong efficacy shown in previous studies, the drugmaker said on Thursday.