- COVID-19 infections weighed on Merck & Co Inc's (NYSE: MRK) Q1 earnings, with several people avoiding visits to hospitals or even the doctor early in the first quarter.
- The company reported Q1 EPS of $1.40, which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $1.63 and was down around 7% Y/Y.
- It logged quarterly sales of $12.08 billion, beneath analyst consensus of $12.66 billion. The pharmaceutical company said drug sales were strong, the effect of the pandemic pulled profits down by about 1%.
- Merck estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic brought a negative impact on its pharmaceutical revenue of $600 million. The segment's revenue was $10.68 billion, roughly in line with its result in last year's first quarter.
- In addition to the pandemic's negative impact, Merck said its revenue was also negatively affected by the loss of market exclusivity for some products.
- Sales of Keytruda grew 19% year over year, but revenue from its Gardasil and Pneumovax vaccines declined by 16% and 33%, respectively.
- Animal-health sales grew by 17% to $1.42 billion, reflecting higher global demand for parasiticides and animal vaccines.
- Guidance: Merck reaffirmed its full-year earnings in the range of $6.48 to $6.68 per share, with revenue in the range of $51.8 billion to $53.8 billion.
- However, the company expects that the Organon spinoff will occur on June 2. The financial estimates will be updated when the spinoff is complete.
- Price Action: MRK shares are down 2.08% at $75.50 in the premarket session on the last check Thursday.
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