Merck & Co Inc (NYSE:MRK) shares slipped lower in premarket trade after the company raised its outlook for the full year, and released a mixed bag of results for the third quarter.
In a statement, the drug giant said in the quarter, it slipped into a net loss of US$56mln, or 2 US cents a share, from a profit of US$2.18bn, or 78 US cents a share, a year ago.
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Excluding non-recurring items, such as a US$2.35bn charge related to the formation of a strategic oncology collaboration with AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN), adjusted earnings per share came in at US$1.11, well-above the market expectations for US$1.03.
Revenue slipped to US$10.33bn from US$10.54bn, coming below Wall Street’s expectations for US$10.54bn.
During the quarter, pharmaceutical sales fell 3% to US$9.16bn. Top drugs, Januvia/Janumet saw sales slip 2% to US$1.53bn. It however beat market expectations for US$1.49bn while Keytruda sales nearly tripled to US$1.05bn, coming in just below of market hopes for US$1.07bn.
Gardasil sales eased 22% to US$675mln, also missing expectations of US$776.4mln.
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For the full year 2017, Merck raised its adjusted EPS outlook to US$3.91 to US$3.97 from US$3.76 to US$3.88.
It also lifted its revenue outlook to US$40.0bn to US$40.5bn from US$39.4bn to US$40.4bn.
In premarket trade, its shares fell 2.31% at US$60.56.