Can Amgen Earnings Keep Up With Biogen?

Photo of Chris Lange
By Chris Lange Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Can Amgen Earnings Keep Up With Biogen?

© Willowpix / Getty Images

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN | AMGN Price Prediction) is set to report its most recent quarterly results after the closing bell on Tuesday. The consensus forecast calls for $3.53 in earnings per share (EPS) and $5.63 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $3.69 in EPS and $5.9 billion in revenue.

Last week, Biogen posted incredible earnings, along with results from a late-stage Alzheimer’s disease trial, that skyrocketed shares. While most companies the size of Biogen would think a move of 10% would be substantial, shares of Biogen rose a whopping 26% on this news, leaving practically all of its competitors in the dust. Now it’s time to see if Amgen can even get close to matching Biogen’s example.

Earlier this quarter, Amgen released additional data from its early-stage lung cancer study. Specifically, this data came from the ongoing Phase 1 study evaluating AMG 510 in patients with previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated solid tumors.

The initial data from the Phase 1 study were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) earlier this year. Overall, the additional follow-up in a larger group of patients with non-small cell lung cancer in this study continued to show anti-tumor activity with no dose-limiting toxicities.

In August, Amgen and Celgene announced a deal in regards to Celgene’s merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Essentially, Amgen is buying worldwide rights to Otezla, Celgene’s treatment for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, for a total of $13.4 billion in cash.

[nativounit]

Sales of Otezla in 2018 were $1.6 billion, driven by strong volume growth. Amgen stated previously that it will focus on medicines that can deliver sustained, long-term volume-driven growth, and the company believes there is a significant opportunity to grow Otezla through global expansion and new indications, with expectations for Otezla to realize at least low double-digit sales growth, on average, over the next five years.

Excluding Tuesday’s move, Amgen had underperformed the broad markets, with the stock is up only 5% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock was up closer to 9%.

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

  • Merrill Lynch has a Neutral rating and a $215 price target.
  • Sanford Bernstein has an Outperform rating.
  • JPMorgan has a Hold rating.
  • BMO’s Buy rating comes with a $240 target price.
  • Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating and a $243 price target.
  • Cantor Fitzgerald rates it as Hold with a $230 price target.
  • Leerink Swann has a Hold rating and a $189 price target.
  • Cowen has a Buy rating with a $231 target price.
  • Oppenheimer’s Buy rating comes with a $240 target.

Shares of Amgen traded up about 1% on Tuesday, at $207.21 in a 52-week range of $166.30 to $211.90. The consensus price target is $215.62.

[recirclink id=588514]
[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Chris Lange
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.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618