By Senad Karaahmetovic
Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) delivered higher-than-expected top and bottom-line numbers for its third quarter, allowing it to raise its full-year guidance.
Merck posted a Q3 EPS of $1.85 on revenue of $15 billion to beat the analyst estimate of EPS of $1.75 on sales of $14.07 billion. Revenue from Lageviro (molnupiravir) and Keytruda came in at $436 million and $5.43 billion, respectively, higher than the estimate of $190.8 million and $5.34 billion.
Merck raised its full-year guidance to $7.32-7.35 in EPS, up from the prior $7.25-7.35 range. Revenue is now seen between $58.5 and $59 billion, an increase from the $57.5-58.5 billion range. Both topped the Bloomberg-compiled consensus while Merck said that its FY outlook includes a negative impact from FX of about 4%.
Full-year revenue from Lageviro is now seen at between $5.2 billion and $5.4 billion, up from the prior range of $5 billion to $5.5 billion.
Mizuho analysts said Merck delivered “strong top & bottom line beats.” They added that the negative impact from FX was “larger than previously expected.”
Cantor Fitzgerald analysts reiterated an Overweight rating and a $107 per share price target on MRK stock.
“The robust sales for MRK's key products (KEYTRUDA, GARDASIL and others) underscore that growth across oncology, vaccines and animal health, as well as margin expansion opportunities, remain under-appreciated, in our view. Therefore, we believe multiple expansion should potentially drive MRK shares higher as earnings visibility improves beyond Keytruda's patent cliff in 2028+,” the analysts said.
Merck shares are up almost 2% in pre-market Thursday.