Merck (MRK) Tops on Q4 Earnings, Misses Sales, Stock Up

New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. MRK is a global research-driven pharmaceutical products company. Well known products in Merck’s portfolio include Remicade, Nasonex, Simponi, Vytorin and Zetia, Januvia and Janumet, Isentress, Emend, Keytruda, Cozaar/Hyzaar, Zocor, ProQuad, Gardasil, Zostavax and others.

However, like many of its peers, Merck is facing headwinds in the form of generic competition for several key products. The company sold off its Consumer Care business to Bayer for $14.2 billion in Oct 2014. Meanwhile, Merck acquired hepatitis C virus focused company Idenix Pharmaceuticals in Aug 2014 and Cubist Pharmaceuticals in 2015. Merck is also focusing on immuno-oncology.

Merck’s performance has been pretty impressive, with the company exceeding earnings expectations in all the trailing four quarters. The average positive earnings surprise over the last four quarters is 7.76%

Currently, Merck has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but that could definitely change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings Beat: Merck surpassed earnings expectations. The company reported EPS of 98 cents while our consensus called for EPS of 94 cents.

Revenues Miss: Revenues in the reported quarter came slightly below expectations. Merck posted revenues of $10.43 billion below our consensus estimate of $10.45 billion.

2018 Outlook: Revenues are expected in the range of $41.2 billion – $42.7 billion in 2018 which was in-line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $41.28 billion.

The company expects adjusted earnings in the range of $4.08–$4.23. The Zacks Consensus Estimate stood at $4.09 per share.

Stock Price Impact: Shares were up around 1.6% in pre-market trading.

Check back later for our full write up on this MRK earnings report!

Merck & Company, Inc. Price and Consensus

Merck & Company, Inc. Price and Consensus | Merck & Company, Inc. Quote

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