Merck reported a 6 percent revenue jump in the first quarter, but profits plunged by more than half due to sharply higher research and development costs.
Much of that increase was due to a $1.4 billion charge for starting a research partnership with Japanese drugmaker Eisai.
The maker of diabetes drug Januvia and cancer blockbuster Keytruda had net income of $736 million, or 27 cents per share. That was down from $1.55 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.
Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions, came to $1.05 per share, which is 6 cents better than Wall Street analysts had projected, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research.
It’s revenue of $10.04 billion was just shy of the $10.12 billion many analysts had expected.
The Kenilworth, New Jersey, company tweaked its 2018 financial forecast Tuesday. It now expects full-year earnings between $4.16 and $4.28 per share, with revenue between $41.8 billion and $43 billion.
In premarket trading, shares were flat at $58.90.
_____
Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MRK at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MRK
___
Follow Linda A. Johnson at https://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.