Amgen Posts Mixed Quarterly Results
Amgen
(AMGN) - Get Report
reported mixed results after the market close Thursday, with a variety of factors -- reimbursement, demand, stocking and foreign exchange -- affecting sales in what one analyst dubbed a "strange" quarter.
Shares of the Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based company edged up 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $42.60 in recent after-hours trading.
On a GAAP basis, the company earned $1.13 billion, or 94 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared to $1.11 billion, or 94 cents a share, a year ago.
Adjusted net income fell 4% to roughly $1.2 billion. But on a per-share basis, the company reported adjusted profit of $1.12 a share, compared to $1.08 a share in the year-ago quarter.
With some help of lower-than-expected operating expenses -- $2.07 billion vs. the $2.2 billion Wall Street consensus -- Amgen beat on profit, but revenue fell shy of Wall Street views, decreasing 2% to $3.613 billion, from $3.687 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Wall Street analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.05 a share on revenue of $3.624 billion.
Within the quarter, the company weathered the latest event in its anemia drug saga -- an advisory panel voted to further restrict the use of such drugs in cancer patients.
The biotech also implemented a 2% price hike for Aranesp in the quarter in addition to raising prices for Enbrel, Epogen, Neupogen and Neulasta.
"Though first-quarter product sales were mixed, based on current trends and expectations, we are confident that revenues for the year will be within our previously announced guidance," Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer said in a company release.
Aranesp sales fell 25% to $761 million, from $1.02 billion in the year-ago quarter, including a 4% benefit from foreign exchange. Amgen said the drop was primarily due to U.S. sales, which fell 38% to $405 million. Analysts were looking for worldwide sales of $760 million.
Epogen sales fell 11% to $554 million, falling short of the $604 million consensus target. Amgen said sales were affected by dose reductions, revised demand estimates and unfavorable inventory changes. However, Amgen said it expects full-year Epogen sales to decline only slightly.
Combined sales of Neulasta and Neupogen increased 7% to $1.08 billion, shy of the $1.1 billion Wall Street estimate.
Sales of Enbrel increased 30% to $951 million, much higher than the $855 million consensus. However, the company said the increase included $120 million in stocking.
"Overall we view the first-quarter performance as low quality, and we are retaining our neutral rating," wrote JPMorgan analyst Geoffrey Meacham in a note to investors.
Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its 2008 guidance of adjusted profit between $4 and $4.30 a share, and revenue in a range of $14.2 billion to $14.6 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for earnings of $4.18 a share on revenue of $14.5 billion.
Know What You Own:
Amgen's Epogen competes with Procrit from
Johnson & Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Report
, which last week also reported a
decline in sales of the anemia drug
.
Also, Amgen is awaiting results from an FDA review
, a platelet-increasing therapy for treatment of adults with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), an auto-immune disorder.
GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK) - Get Report
and partner
Ligand
(LGND) - Get Report
also have a platelet-increasing candidate, Promacta, that is up for FDA review.