Global pharmaceutical company Merck (NYSE: MRK) will be reporting earnings this Tuesday before market open. Here’s what investors should know.
Merck beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 1.6% last quarter, reporting revenues of $15.53 billion, down 1.6% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with a solid beat of analysts’ constant currency revenue estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.
Is Merck a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Merck’s revenue to decline 2.2% year on year to $15.75 billion, a reversal from the 7.2% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $2.03 per share.
Heading into earnings, analysts covering the company have grown increasingly bearish with revenue estimates seeing 6 downward revisions over the last 30 days (we track 11 analysts). Merck has a history of exceeding Wall Street’s expectations, beating revenue estimates every single time over the past two years by 2.2% on average.
With Merck being the first among its peers to report earnings this season, we don’t have anywhere else to look to get a hint at how this quarter will unravel for pharmaceuticals stocks. However, investors in the segment have had steady hands going into earnings, with share prices flat over the last month. Merck is up 7.2% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $101.78 (compared to the current share price of $84.88).
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