Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) stock rose over 2.7% on 31st October, 2018 (as of 10:27 AM GMT-4; Source: Google finance) after the company posted better than expected results for the third quarter of 2018.
AMGN in the third quarter of FY 18 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.69, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $3.42. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 2 percent to $5.90 billion in the third quarter of FY 18, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of by 1.52%. Operating expenses, including research and product launch costs, increased 7 percent to $3.58 billion. Sales beat expectations by about $100 million, due to older drugs like kidney medication Sensipar and anemia drug Epogen, but “Repatha looked a little weak. Repatha sales totaled $120 million, down from $148 million in the second quarter, and short of the $166 million forecast by analysts.
Sales of blockbuster white blood cell booster Neulasta fell 6 percent to $897 million. That trend could accelerate as rivals introduce “biosimilar” versions of the infection fighter, with a second competitor possibly approved by U.S. regulators later this week. Aimovig, the migraine drug launched by Amgen in May, saw sales of $22 million. Amgen, which recently reached a deal with U.S. pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co on coverage of Aimovig, is currently discussing terms with other payers including health insurer Anthem Inc.
Moreover, Huge Repatha rebates helped sales of the cholesterol-reducing injection rise 30% to $120 million through increased volume. More recently, Amgen slashed the list price that patient co-pays are often based on, but we still don’t know how much of a difference this will make to the net price Amgen receives for the drug.
Sales of multiple myeloma treatment Kyprolis rose 12% to $232 million. In October, the FDA approved a once-weekly dosing option that could give sales a boost going forward.
Sales of the company’s first bi-specific antibody, Blincyto, climbed 12% to $58 million. In September the company earned approval to treat leukemia patients in Japan with the treatment.
The company has raised its full-year earnings forecast to between $14.00 and $14.25 per share from a previous outlook of $13.30 to $14.00. That puts the midpoint above Wall Street estimates of $14.01. Amgen said it now expects total revenue for the year of $23.2 billion to $23.5 billion, up from $22.5 billion to $23.2 billion.