Merck’s Q3 Revenues Dinged by Patent Expiry

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By Trey Thoelcke Published
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Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) this morning reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, but the loss of market exclusivity for its Singulair in the United States and the impact of foreign exchange took a toll on the company’s sales.

The New Jersey-based drug maker posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.95 on revenues of $11.49 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.94 on revenues of $12.02 billion. The quarter’s results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.93 and $11.57 billion in revenues.

The gross margin rose to 64.0% from 63.8% in the third quarter of last year.

“Our strong global sales this quarter offset the impact of the SINGULAIR patent expiry in the U.S.,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck’s chairman and chief executive. “With our robust pipeline, we remain on target to submit multiple new products for marketing approval between now and the end of 2013, including suvorexant for insomnia, odanacatib for osteoporosis and TREDAPTIVE for multiple lipid parameters.”

Merck now expects full-year 2012 EPS to fall in the range of $3.78 and $3.82 and for revenues to come in at or near 2011 levels, or $48.05 billion. The Thomson Reuters consensus estimates call for EPS of $3.81 and $47.14 billion in revenues.

Shares are inactive in premarket trading but closed yesterday at $46.30. The 52-week range is $33.08 to $48.00. The mean price target before this report was $48.50 per share.

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About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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