Merck's Q3 Results Beat Street on Bottom Line But Miss on Top

Merck posted third earnings of $0.90 a share on revenue of $10.55 billion. Wall Street analysts were looking for earnings of $0.88 on sales of $10.66 billion. Last year, the pharmaceutical giant earned $0.92 per share on revenue of $11.03 billion. As for details, Merck’s Q3 pharmaceutical sales declined 4% to $9.1 billion primarily due product divestitures and the loss of market exclusivity for Temodar and Singulair. These declines were partially offset by growth in the global acute care franchise, including Noxafil and Bridion. Animal Health sales totaled $885 million for the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 11% compared with the third quarter of 2013. Growth was driven by increases across all species. TheStreet's Gregg Greenberg has details from New York.