Merck Posts 4Q Revenue Growth on Oncology, Vaccine Gains

 Merck & Co. Inc. on Thursday logged an adjusted profit in the latest quarter as growth in its oncology and vaccine sales drove higher revenue despite the negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on sales.

The Kenilworth, N.J.-based pharmaceutical company logged a fourth-quarter loss of 83 cents a share, compared with earnings of 92 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. The company's net loss was $2.09 billion, a swing from a profit of $2.36 billion in the prior year's fourth quarter.

On an adjusted basis, Merck posted a profit of $1.32 a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were forecasting adjusted earnings of $1.38 a share.

Merck's revenue was $12.51 billion, up 5% from $11.87 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. Analysts were expecting revenue of $12.67 billion.

The pandemic negatively impacted Merck's pharmaceutical revenue by $400 million in the latest quarter, the company said. Social distancing and reduced health-care visits particularly affected sales of vaccines for other diseases, according to the company. The full-year impact to Merck's revenue from the pandemic was about $2.5 billion, the company said.

Overall, pharmaceutical revenue in the quarter grew 8% to $11.4 billion, with growth driven primarily by oncology and vaccine sales.

Animal-health sales grew 4% to $1.2 billion.

The company forecast full-year revenue for 2021 of $51.8 billion to $53.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.48 to $6.68 a share.

Analysts had been forecasting revenue of $51.66 million and an adjusted profit of $6.30 a share.

Merck said Thursday that Chief Executive Kenneth C. Frazier will retire at the end of June. He will be succeeded by Robert M. Davis, the current chief financial officer.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/MERCK-CO-INC-13611/news/Merck-Posts-4Q-Revenue-Growth-on-Oncology-Vaccine-Gains-32356956/

Cigna Sees Adjusted Revenue Growth, Pandemic Impact in 2021

 Cigna Corp. said Thursday it expects to adjusted revenue growth and a full-year profit in 2021 in guidance that includes a continuing impact from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bloomfield, Conn.-based health-care company said its adjusted revenue would be at least $165 billion in 2021, compared with $160.07 billion in 2020.

Its full-year adjusted profit would be at least $20 a share, Cigna forecast. That estimate includes a per-share unfavorable impact from Covid-19 of $1.25, Cigna said.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been projecting a full-year adjusted profit of $20.61 a share and revenue of $164.4 billion.

Cigna said its adjusted income attributable to its Evernorth health-services segment would be at least $5.6 billion, with at least $3.8 billion of profit from its U.S. medical division.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/CIGNA-CORPORATION-49690049/news/Cigna-Sees-Adjusted-Revenue-Growth-Pandemic-Impact-in-2021-32356168/

Baxter International Turns 4Q Profit

 Baxter International Inc. turned a profit for the fourth quarter, thanks to higher advanced-surgery sales that benefited from the acquisition of Seprafilm.

The medical-products company on Thursday posted net income attributable to stockholders of $168 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $23 million in the year-ago period. Earnings were 33 cents a share, compared with a loss of 5 cents a share.

Adjusted earnings were 80 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were looking for 76 cents a share.

Sales rose to $3.18 billion from $3.04 billion a year earlier, ahead of the $3.12 billion analysts had expected.

Sales in the renal care and clinical nutrition global business units both increased along with advanced surgery, the company said. Those gains helped offset declines in its medication delivery and pharmaceuticals segment, which continued to be hurt by lower rates of hospital admissions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said U.S. hospital admissions fell by low double digits, and that surgical procedures were flat compared with pre-pandemic levels.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BAXTER-INTERNATIONAL-INC-11763/news/Baxter-International-Turns-4Q-Profit-32357239/

EU regulator reviewing Lilly, Regeneron COVID-19 antibody therapies

 Europe's drugs regulator said on Thursday it was reviewing data on COVID-19 antibody therapies developed by U.S. drugmakers Eli Lilly and Regeneron for use in some patients.

Two separate reviews of combination treatments by the drugmakers have been started based on trials in COVID-19 patients who do not need oxygen support and are at high risk of their condition worsening, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.

Eli Lilly's combination therapy of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, helped cut the risk of hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients by 70%, data from a late-stage trial showed in January.

Regeneron's cocktail of casirivimab and imdevimab was authorised for emergency use in the United States in November, and was given to former U.S. President Donald Trump during his COVID-19 infection.

The four drugs are combinations of a class of medicines called monoclonal antibody treatments, or manufactured copies of antibodies created by the human body to fight infections.

The EMA also said it was studying the use of Lilly's bamlanivimab as a singular therapy. The drug has already received emergency use approval in high-risk patients in the United States with mild to moderate COVID-19. (https://bit.ly/39NmGP0)

Any recommendations made by the EMA's human medicine's committee will have to be formally approved by the European Commission.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/REGENERON-PHARMACEUTICALS-10649/news/Regeneron-Pharmaceuticals-EU-regulator-reviewing-Lilly-Regeneron-COVID-19-antibody-therapies-32360884/

Gilead quarterly revenue rises 26% on remdesivir sales

 

Gilead Sciences Inc posted a 26% rise in quarterly revenue that topped Wall Street estimates on Thursday, helped by sales of its antiviral drug, remdesivir, which is authorized to treat COVID-19 patients across the world.

Remdesivir brought in $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, above analysts' estimates of $1.34 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Shares of Gilead were up 2.5% in extended trading.

The company forecast fiscal 2021 results largely ahead of analyst expectations and raised its dividend by 4.4%.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $7.42 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $7.33 billion.

Gilead projected fiscal 2021 product sales of $23.7 billion to $25.1 billion, ahead of the Wall Street consensus of $24.27 billion in revenue, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/GILEAD-SCIENCES-INC-4876/news/Gilead-quarterly-revenue-rises-26-on-remdesivir-sales-32361706/

Bristol Myers Squibb : Upgrades 2021 Adjusted Profit Guidance, Sees Revenue Growth

 Bristol Myers Squibb Co. Thursday raised its guidance for its full-year adjusted profit and said it expects revenue growth in 2021.

Bristol said it expects 2021 earnings of $3.12 to $3.32 a share, and full-year adjusted earnings of $7.35 to $7.55 a share. The company's previous guidance had called for an adjusted profit of $7.15 to $7.45 a share.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been forecasting an adjusted profit of $7.46 a share.

World-wide revenue will increase by a percentage in the high single digits, Bristol estimated. Gross margin will be approximately 80.5%. The company's gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 73.7%.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BRISTOL-MYERS-SQUIBB-COMP-11877/news/Bristol-Myers-Squibb-Upgrades-2021-Adjusted-Profit-Guidance-Sees-Revenue-Growth-32357178/

Roche sees 2021 growth, buoyed by COVID tests as pandemic persists

 

Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan expects COVID-19 test demand to continue to surge, buoying the Swiss drug and diagnostics maker's forecast to lift 2021 sales and profit despite pressure on its main drugs business.

Roche, which reported full-year 2020 results on Thursday, predicts current-year sales growth in the low- to mid-single digit range at constant exchange rates, with core earnings per share growing similarly.

The Basel-based company's main pharmaceuticals business makes up three-quarters of overall sales but has taken a back seat during the pandemic to diagnostics, whose 15 tests for COVID-19 propelled it to double-digit sales growth as countries raced to track infections.

Fourth-quarter pharmaceuticals sales fell 7% to 10.2 billion Swiss francs ($11.3 billion), sharply contrasting with diagnostics revenue that rose 28% to 4.1 billion francs.

"I've been preaching, for years if not decades, how important diagnostics is, and how undervalued diagnostics is," Schwan told reporters on a call.

"Unfortunately, countries around the world underinvested into this area, and probably needed something like COVID-19 to recognize the importance of diagnostics."

Other diagnostics companies profited similarly from the pandemic, with Abbott Laboratories Inc last week publishing estimate-beating forecasts.

For 2020, Roche's net profit rose to 15.1 billion francs, from 14.1 billion in 2019. Sales were 58.3 billion francs, down 5% from 61.5 billion a year ago as the Swiss franc strengthened against other currencies like the U.S. dollar.

At constant exchange rates, sales rose 1%.

Roche shares slipped 0.5% at 0900 GMT, as Zuercher Kantonalbank analysts said results missed their expectations.

Weighing on drug sales were patients avoiding the doctor for fear of catching COVID-19, prompting a 2 billion franc pandemic-related hit to 2020 drug revenue.

As more vaccines from other companies arrive later this year, drugs unit head Bill Anderson is hoping for an improvement.

"The first half of the year will be relatively more difficult for the pharmaceuticals business, the second half will be strengthening," Anderson told reporters.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/ROCHE-HOLDING-AG-9364975/news/Roche-sees-2021-growth-buoyed-by-COVID-tests-as-pandemic-persists-32353368/