Merck & Co. (MRK) -) on Tuesday posted a narrower-than-expected second-quarter loss while boosting its full-year sales forecast, thanks to solid revenue from its blockbuster Keytruda cancer treatment.
Merck said its adjusted loss for the three months ended in June came in at $2.06 a share, compared with a profit of $1.18 a share in the year-earlier period and the Wall Street consensus forecast of $2.18 a share. The group took a $4.02-per-share hit linked to its $10.8 billion purchase of Prometheus Biosciences, which closed last month.
Group revenue, Merck said, rose 3% to $15.04 billion, against the $14.45 billion tally forecast by analysts that cover the pharma giant.
Keytruda sales surged 19% from a year earlier to $6.3 billion, Merck said, while sales of its covid antiviral pill Lagevrio, which it developed with Ridgeback Therapeutics, fell 83% to $203 million.
Looking into back half of the year, Merck said it saw full-year adjusted earnings in the range of $2.95 to $3.05 per share. Worldwide sales are pegged between $58.6 billion and $59.6 billion, up from its prior forecast of $57.2 billion to $58.7 billion.
"We continue to make great progress as we advance our broad and deep pipeline, raise the bar of innovation, and bring forward leading-edge science to save and improve lives around the world," said CEO Robert Davis.
"We delivered robust underlying growth during the second quarter and are well positioned to achieve strong full-year results," he added. "I am proud of our talented, diverse and dedicated global team that continues to focus on creating value for patients and all our stakeholders now and well into the future.”
Merck shares were marked 1% lower in early afternoon trading Tuesday immediately following the earnings release to change hands at $105.60 each.
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