Merck Shares Rise After Second-Quarter Earnings Top Forecasts

Merck raises the floor of guidance for full-year non-GAAP earnings per share and is now targeting between $3.67 and $3.77.
By James Skinner ,

Shares of Merck (MRK) - Get Report were indicated 1.8% higher premarket trading on Friday after the pharma giant topped expectations for revenue and earnings per share in the second quarter.

Merck reported non-GAAP earnings of 93 cents a share, 2 cents above analysts' expectations and up 8% from last year's 86 cents a share.

Sales came in at just more than $9.8 billion, against expectations for sales of just under $9.8 billion, and represented an increase of 1% on last year's $9.7 billion.

Management also raised the floor of guidance for full-year non-GAAP earnings per share and is now targeting between $3.67 and $3.77. However, it lowered guidance for full-year GAAP earnings slightly to $1.98 to $2.08 a share, due to expectations of higher impairment charges and unfavorable exchange rate movements. The range for revenue guidance has been narrowed to between $39.1 billion and $40.1 billion.

CEO Kenneth Frazier said, "We remain committed to advancing our pipeline, delivering a balanced and differentiated portfolio, and achieving long-term, sustainable growth." 

Merck has spent much of the second quarter focused on its late-stage pipeline and launches of Keytruda and Zepatier, all of which is designed to counter the threat of generic competition to drugs such as Vytorin, Cubicin and Masonex.

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