Tag Archives: amgn

Pfizer Raises Guidance As Lead Drugs Drive Q1 Beat; Stock Up

Big pharma Pfizer ( PFE ) rose early Tuesday after it beat Wall Street’s Q1 estimates and raised its guidance, as the company moved on after it and Allergan ( AGN ) last month called off their mammoth $160 billion merger. Before the open, Pfizer said earnings, excluding one-time items, rose 32% over the year-earlier quarter to 67 cents a share, beating analysts’ consensus by 12 cents. Revenue increased 20% to $13 billion, beating consensus by about $1 billion. The accounting in Q1 was complicated by several factors, including the Sept. 3 acquisition of generic drugmaker Hospira. “If we look closely to year-over-year revenue growth, it is worth mentioning that out of $2.1 billion growth vs. Q1 ’15 (or $2.9 billion of operational growth or 26% year-over-year) favorable FX (foreign-exchange rates) contributed $729 million, and inclusion of Hospira contributed $1.2 billion,” wrote Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum in an email to clients. “Excluding FX and Hospira, Pfizer stand-alone revenue increased by $1.7 billion (15% year-over-year growth). “There is also an additional factor favorably contributing to revenues — $900 million due to an additional five selling days this quarter. Excluding this impact, operational year-over-year revenue growth comes as 8%, which is still very good growth for Pfizer with its relatively mature portfolio of products.” Still, none of these factors except foreign exchange contributed to Pfizer’s full-year guidance increase. The company added $2 billion to its revenue guidance, now $51 billion to $53 billion, and 18 cents to its EPS range, now $2.38 to $2.48. Pfizer said that about $1 billion of the revenue hike and 12 cents of the EPS gain were due to improved operating performance. Pfizer stock was up 2.4% in early trading on the stock market today , near 33.60. A number of important drugs also beat consensus, including breast-cancer treatment Ibrance, epilepsy drug Lyrica, and pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13. Enbrel —  Amgen ‘s ( AMGN ) rheumatoid-arthritis drug, which Pfizer markets outside the U.S. — also beat expectations, as it did domestically for Amgen in its Q1 report last week. Nonetheless, investors’ minds may be elsewhere, wrote Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan in a research note. “We expect investors to view the quarter as a positive but maintain their focus on the strategic outlook of the company following the failed Allergan deal and ahead of a decision on a potential split of Pfizer ,” he wrote. Pfizer and Allergan, based in low-tax Ireland, called off their merger , which would have been the industry’s largest ever, after the U.S. Treasury unveiled new rules to curb tax inversion deals.

Amgen Legacy Drugs Drive Q1 Beat; Gilead Hep C Juggernaut Stumbles

Big biotech Amgen ( AMGN ) beat Wall Street’s Q1 estimates and raised guidance Thursday after the close, though its stock went sideways in after-hours trading. Its peer Gilead Sciences ( GILD ), however, was down sharply after a weak quarter. Amgen reported adjusted earnings of $2.90 a share, up 17% from the year-earlier quarter and 30 cents ahead of analysts’ consensus, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue increased 10% to $5.53 billion, more than $200 million above consensus. The company lifted its full-year guidance, though not by quite as much as the Q1 beat. Its EPS range is now $10.85 to $11.20, up from $10.60 to $11. The revenue guide is $22.2 billion to $22.6 billion, vs. $22 billion to $22.5 billion. Last year, Amgen made $10.38 in EPS on $21.66 billion in revenue. Amgen’s best-selling drug Enbrel, for rheumatoid arthritis, beat expectations by growing 24% to $1.39 billion, almost $140 million above consensus, according to Evercore ISI. Its second-biggest drug Neulasta, for neutropenia, modestly beat estimates by gaining 4% to $1.18 billion. On the other hand, some of Amgen’s newer drugs came up short. Cancer drug Kyprolis grew 43% but was still $19 million shy of consensus with $154 million in sales, while newly launched cholesterol drug Repatha continued its underperformance with a $16 million take. Gilead Takes A Hit In Hep C Gilead, meanwhile, reported earnings of $3.03 a share excluding one-time items, up 3% from last year’s Q1 and 12 cents below Wall Street’s average estimate. Revenue rose 2.6% to $7.79 billion, about $325 million below consensus. Gilead nonetheless made no change to its full-year guidance, calling for $30 billion to $31 billion in product sales and 88% to 90% gross margin. Gilead’s blockbuster hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi accounted for most of the shortfall, though for opposite reasons: Harvoni missed badly in the U.S. but outperformed abroad, while Sovaldi did the opposite. Earlier in the day, AbbVie ( ABBV ) reported that Harvoni’s chief competitor Viekira also came up short of consensus, which the company attributed to Merck ‘s ( MRK ) unexpectedly aggressive pricing of recently launched rival Zepatier. (Merck will report its Q1 on May 5.) The quarter also brought a screeching halt to Gilead’s two-year stretch of double- or triple-digit sales and profit growth, starting with the Dec. 2013 launch of Sovaldi. Analysts expect growth will totally flatten unless the company makes a transformative acquisition. Gilead stock was down more than 6% after hours Thursday, after it closed the regular session down 3.7%, at 97.

Amazon Earnings Top 5 Things You Need To Know For Thursday

On slate for Thursday are quarterly earnings reports from Amazon ( AMZN ), LinkedIn ( LNKD ), Baidu ( BIDU ) and Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) after the close. Before the market open, investors will get their first look at first-quarter economic growth. Amazon The e-commerce giant is expected to earn 58 cents a share in Q1, swinging to a profit from a 12-cent loss last year. Revenue is projected to climb 23% to $27.99 billion. Last quarter, Amazon fell well short of earnings estimates and came up light on revenue, sending shares down as much as 32% from their high in the following weeks. But its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, is a bright spot. It hauled in $2.4 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 69% year over year. Shares are flirting with being within the lower boundary of a buy range from a cup-with-handle base with a 603.34 buy point, which it initially broke out of a few weeks ago. Amazon fell 1.7% to 606.57 after falling to 601.28 intraday. LinkedIn The professional social network’s earnings are projected to grow 5% to 60 cents ex items, a sharp drop from the 54% growth that it saw in the prior quarter. Revenue is expected to jump 30% to $828.5 million. Shares dropped 44% on LinkedIn’s last quarterly report, which showed weak Q1 guidance. LinkedIn stock has climbed off of its low, reached in the following days, and is now trading 54% below its 52-week high. Facebook Social networking leader Facebook ( FB ) crushed Q1 earnings and revenue projections late Wednesday, sending shares up 9% in late trade. If Facebook’s positive action continues into Thursday’s session, the stock will likely be in buy range from a cup-with-handle base with a 117.09 buy point. Baidu China Internet giant Baidu is projected to see Q1 EPS ex items fall 11% to 5.96 RMB (92 cents). Revenue is estimated to rise 24% to 15.83 billion RMB ($2.4 billion). Baidu’s mobile ecosystem is strong, according to ITG Research analyst Henry Guo. He said this week that his firm’s data indicates “that Baidu’s Mobile Search app dominates the mobile search market with more than 23% installation penetration among Chinese mobile users, well ahead of its key competitors Sogou Search (1.7%) and Qihoo 360 Technology ( QIHU ) Search (0.2%).” Baidu is trading just below buy range from a cup-with-handle base that it broke out of recently. It’s trading 13% below its 52-week high. Gilead Sciences The biotech’s earnings are estimated to rise 6% to $3.13 a share, slower than last quarter’s 37% growth. Revenue is seen rising 7% to $8.1 billion, also a deceleration from the prior quarter. Comparisons are getting tougher after Gilead earnings and sales skyrocketed on hepatitis C treatments. Gilead retook its 200-day line last week but breached that level in Wednesday’s session. Shares are trading 18% below their 52-week high. Fellow big-cap biotech Amgen ( AMGN ) also reports quarterly results Thursday, with analysts expected a 5% EPS gain. Amgen, which fell 1.1% to 161 on Thursday is near a buy point at 165.33 in cup-shaped base. Before the market open, biotechs Alexion Pharmaceuticals ( ALXN ) and Celgene ( CELG ) report, along with big pharma Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) and AbbVie ( ABBV ) makes a rival hepatitis C treatment. Q1 GDP After Q4’s OK but not great 1.4% gain, coupled with ongoing issues regarding a strong dollar, weak energy sector and sluggish manufacturing, weak growth is expected in Q1. Wall Street expects a scant 0.7% annualized gain.