Amgen vs. Regeneron: Higher Dividends Now or Bigger Growth Later?
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Which belongs in a retiree’s account right now: Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN | AMGN Price Prediction) or Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN)? Both pay quarterly dividends and both beat consensus last quarter. Amgen has gained 43.94% year-to-date, while Regeneron is up 18.42%. The two stocks fit very different retirees. We compared them on income, valuation, and growth.
Income: Amgen Pays the Bigger, Proven Check
Amgen pays $2.52 per quarter, or $10.08 a year, for a yield of about 2.16%. That payment is 6% higher than a year ago. The quarterly payout rose from $2.13 in 2023 to $2.25 in 2024, $2.38 in 2025, and $2.52 in 2026. Trailing dividends take about 58% of GAAP earnings. Free cash flow of $8.1 billion in 2025 covered the payout well.
Regeneron’s dividend is the newer story. Payments started in 2025 at $0.88 a quarter and rose to $0.94 in 2026, a raise of about 6.8%. Investors get $3.76 a year and a yield of just 0.41%. The dividend uses only about 8% of trailing earnings, so the company has plenty of room to raise it.
For now, management prefers buybacks: it bought back $2.3 billion of stock in the first nine months of the year and expects about $3 billion for the full year. Winner: Amgen. A retiree living on dividends needs that cash today.
Valuation: Regeneron Is Cheaper and Debt-Free
Regeneron is valued at 20 times trailing earnings and 13 times forward earnings. Amgen comes in at 27 and 19. Their PEG ratios are 1.102 and 2.772. Balance sheets look even more different. Regeneron closed the quarter with $16.2 billion in cash and marketable securities, net of debt.
Amgen has $54.0 billion of debt, and its leverage stood at 3.2x EBITDA at the end of 2025. Analysts see more room for Regeneron: its consensus target is $977.93 against a price of $910.57. Amgen’s target of $429.74 is below its $461.69 share price. Winner: Regeneron.
Growth: Regeneron Is Growing Much Faster
Regeneron’s third-quarter revenue rose 36.27% to $5.116 billion. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $20.07 against a $16.19 consensus. Global Dupixent sales grew 35%, EYLEA HD rose 62%, and Libtayo climbed 51%. A $1.0 billion upfront payment from its Dupixent partner will be booked as revenue in Q4. There are risks. Legacy EYLEA sales fell 41%, and a Phase 3 fianlimab trial in melanoma missed its main goal earlier this year.
Amgen grew revenue 8.4% to $10.37 billion, with non-GAAP EPS of $6.45 beating the $5.78 consensus. Repatha rose 37%, which helped offset biosimilar losses at Prolia (-45%) and XGEVA (-47%). Its bigger upside depends on MariTide, which is still in development. Winner: Regeneron.
Verdict: Amgen for the Paycheck, Regeneron for Compounding
Amgen fits retirees who live on their dividends. It pays a far larger check that has risen every year, its beta is a low 0.417, and its 10-year share-price gain of 317.19% beats Regeneron’s 118.92%. The debt is the cost of that income, and cash flow covers it. If a steady-raiser like Amgen is the kind of name you want more of, we ranked ten long-streak dividend payers by valuation in a free Dividend Kings report.
Regeneron fits retirees focused on total return who have other income and a longer time frame. It is cheaper, has net cash, expands more quickly, and pays a small dividend with plenty of room to grow. On the question in the headline, though, Amgen is the better biotech dividend. Next, watch Amgen’s higher fourth-quarter expenses and the FDA decision on Regeneron’s cemdisiran, expected in November.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
