What to Look for in Amgen Earnings

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is expected to report its second-quarter financial results after the markets close on Wednesday. In the most recent earnings report, this biotech giant beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines, but seemingly this was not enough for investors as shares were sent down for some time after that. However riding the most recent market rally since the Brexit vote, Amgen has recovered handily. The question about this earnings report is if it will head the same way as Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) did earlier this week.

Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for Amgen call for $2.74 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.58 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, the company posted EPS of $2.57 and $5.37 billion in revenue.

Gilead reported its second-quarter financial results late Monday. In the report we saw weakening trends in the hepatitis C vaccine (HCV) segment, as well as slipping sales in other areas. Overall, the report was not good and investors took to dumping the stock.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people’s lives — similar to Gilead. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world’s leading independent biotech companies, reaching millions of patients around the world and developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

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A few analysts weighed in on Amgen prior to the earnings report:

• Baird reiterated a Neutral rating with a $157 price target.
• Merrill Lynch reiterated a Hold rating with a $182 price target.
• Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating with a $187 price target.
• BMO Capital Markets reiterated a Buy rating with a $186 price target.
• Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating.
• Morgan Stanley reiterated an Overweight rating.
• Sanford Bernstein initiated coverage with a Market Perform rating and a $161 target.

So far in 2016, Amgen has performed more or less in line with the broad markets, with the stock up over 5%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is only up about 4%.

Shares of Amgen were trading up 0.8% at $169.06 on Wednesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $184.12 and a 52-week trading range of $130.09 to $181.81.

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