Merck Reports Higher Profit For Q3; Revises Full-year Outlook

(RTTNews) - Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) on Thursday reported higher profit for the third quarter mainly driven by improved product sales. The pharma major also raised its full-year revenue outlook, while cutting earnings guidance below Street view.

Net earnings were $4.745 billion or $1.86 per share for the third quarter, higher than $3.248 billion or $1.28 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, earnings were $5.427 billion or $2.13 per share, that beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Tomson-Reuters of $1.84 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue for the quarter grew 7% to $15.962 billion from $14.959 billion in the previous year. The consensus estimate was for $14.44 billion.

For the full year, Merck now expects sales to be in the range of $59.7 billion - $60.2 billion, up from the previous outlook of $58.6 billion - $59.6 billion.

Adjusted EPS outlook, however, has been slashed to $1.33 - $1.38 from $2.95 - $3.05, to reflect negative impact from upfront charge of $5.5 billion or $1.70 per share, related to the collaboration agreement with Daiichi Sankyo.

Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $2.86 per share on revenue of $55.98 billion for the year.