Business Corpus: Dow Jones' Merck Slides On Mixed First Quarter As Keytruda Sales PopMerck on Tuesday reported adjusted income of $1.05 per share on sales of $10.04 billion for its first quarter. The post Dow Jones' Merck Slides On Mixed First Quarter As Keytruda Sales Pop appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.

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Sales of Merck's (MRK) powerhouse cancer drug, Keytruda, soared by triple digits in the first quarter, but shares of the Dow Jones component dipped Tuesday on lower-than-expected total revenue.

On the stock market today, Merck dipped 1.5% to close at 57.98. Fellow Dow stock Pfizer (PFE) also reported a mixed quarter early Tuesday; shares fell 3.3% to finish at 35.40.

CFRA analyst Jeffrey Loo remained bullish on Merck and its chances to grow Keytruda sales. In a study called Keynote-189, a combination of Keytruda and chemotherapy reduced the risk of death in lung cancer patients by 51%, seemingly outperforming a rival regimen from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).

"Data from this trial, which cut the risk of death by 51%, is impressive in our view," Loo said in a note to clients after Merck's first-quarter earnings announcement. He boosted his price target on Merck to 62 from 60, and kept his hold rating.

Keytruda Sales Pop

But investors weren't as excited about Merck's first quarter. Sales grew 6% to $10.04 billion, yet that missed the consensus polled by Zacks Investment Research for $10.12 billion. Adjusted profit, though, advanced 19% to $1.05 and beat by 6 cents.

Keytruda sales were $1.46 billion, growing 151% year over year and nearly 13% sequentially. Loo had forecast $1.5 billion in revenue from Keytruda sales.

Other big-ticket items included diabetes drugs Januvia/Janumet, which grew 7% to $1.42 billion, and Gardasil/Gardasil 9, vaccines for human papillomavirus. The latter two brought in $660 million, representing 24% growth.

But cholesterol drugs, which include Zetia and Vytorin, declined 18% to $471 million. Merck blamed this on the loss of exclusivity for Zetia and Vytorin in the U.S. in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

For 2018, Merck guided to adjusted earnings of $4.16-$4.28 per share, the midpoint of which beat analyst predictions for $4.18. Sales are expected to come in at $41.8 billion to $43 billion. The midpoint of the sales outlook topped analysts' view for $41.83 billion.

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The post Dow Jones' Merck Slides On Mixed First Quarter As Keytruda Sales Pop appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.