First-quarter profit and sales better than expected were announced by Merck, which also boosted its year-over-year estimates thanks to strong demand for Keytruda’s top anti-cancer drug, Gardasil vaccine and molnupiravir antiviral pill.
In particular, the company’s sales in the quarter amounted to $ 15.9 billion, an increase of 50%, with most of it coming from sales of molnupiravir, which was approved in November. Sales of molnupiravir totaled $ 3.2 billion, exceeding analysts’ estimates by about $ 100 million.
Analysts expected $ 14.7 billion in sales, according to Refinitiv. Excluding sales of molnupiravir, revenue increased by 19% in the first quarter.
Excluding one-off data, Merck reported earnings of $ 2.14 per share, beating analysts’ estimates of $ 1.83 earnings per share.
The pharmaceutical industry increased its forecasts for its sizes throughout the year. In particular, it now expects earnings of $ 7.24 to $ 7.36 per share and sales of $ 56.9 billion to $ 58.1 billion, compared to its previous estimate of $ 7.12-7.27 per share. share and revenue of $ 56.1-57.6 billion.
Source: Capital
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