Pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) and Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) today reported second-quarter results.
Merck (MRK) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.16 per share. This compares to loss of $2.06 per share a year ago.
Shares of Merck & Co. MRK, +2.01% slipped 0.6% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the drug maker reported second-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations, amid strength in sales of cancer treatment Keytruda, while providing a mixed full-year outlook. The company swung to net income of $5.46 billion, or $2.14 a share, from a loss of $5.98 billion, or $2.35 a share, in the same period a year ago.
Merck & Co posted higher-than-expected second-quarter results on Tuesday on strong growth of its blockbuster cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, the world's best-selling prescription medicine.
Merck reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped estimates as it saw strong sales from its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda as well as other treatments in its oncology and vaccines portfolios and a new cardiovascular drug. The pharmaceutical giant also raised its full-year sales forecast to a range of $63.4 billion to $64.4 billion, however it lowered its adjusted profit guidance to between $7.94 and $8.04 per share.
Germany's Merck on Friday further its forecast for the group and said it now expects net sales to be between 20.7 billion euros ($22.49 billion) and 22.1 billion euros for 2024.
Merck (NYSE: MRK) will report its Q2 2024 results on Tuesday, July 30. We expect the company to post revenue of $15.9 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.20, slightly ahead of the street estimates.
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 June 2024.
Merck & Co will announce Q2 2024 earnings on July 30th. Merck's share price has risen 65% in the past 3 years, driven by the success of Keytruda, the world's best-selling drug. Keytruda revenues were up 25% year-on-year in Q1 2024, contributing nearly 45% of Merck's total revenues last quarter.
Investor focus is likely to be on the sales of Merck's (MRK) blockbuster oncology medicine, Keytruda, when the company reports second-quarter 2024 earnings.
Merck (MRK) possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely earnings beat in its upcoming report. Get prepared with the key expectations.
Merck said on Tuesday its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) drug met the safety and efficacy goals in a mid- to late- stage study testing it in infants.