What to Expect From Merck Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 2:00AM EST · Published Oct 24, 12:35PM EDT

What to Expect From Merck Earnings — © Thinkstock

Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings report after before the markets open on Tuesday. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters are $0.98 in earnings per share (EPS) and $10.18 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, Merck posted EPS of $0.96 on $10.07 billion in revenue.

Prior to its presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology in mid-October, Merck announced that Keytruda (pembrolizumab), demonstrated superiority in overall survival at 18 months compared to standard of care chemotherapy (docetaxel) in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer previously treated with platinum-containing chemotherapy whose tumors expressed PD-L1, as well as patients with high levels of PD-L1 expression.

Roy S. Herbst, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and chief of medical oncology, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale, New Haven, commented:

These findings – which show superior survival with longer follow-up across patients with PD-L1 expression (tumor proportion score of one percent or more), as well as improved quality of life – point to KEYTRUDA as a durable treatment option for many previously treated patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. These data also reinforce the value of using PD-L1 as a biomarker to identify patients who are likely to benefit from KEYTRUDA.

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Ahead of the earnings report, a few analysts weighed in on Merck:

Jefferies reiterated a Hold rating with a $65 price target.
Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating with a $70 price target.
Leerink reiterated a Market Perform rating with a $65 price target.
Barclays reiterated an Overweight rating.
Argus reiterated a Buy rating with a $65 price target.
Morgan Stanley has a Hold rating with a $60 price target.
Sanford Bernstein has an Outperform rating with a $74 price target.

So far in 2016, Merck has outperformed the broad markets, with the stock up about 16%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up roughly the same amount.

Shares of Merck were trading at $61.00 on Monday, with a consensus analyst price target of $68.00 and a 52-week trading range of $47.97 to $64.86.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.