Shares of Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, +0.62% fell 0.9% in premarket trading Thursday, after the drug maker reported second-quarter adjusted profit that matched expectations, while sales rose above forecasts even as Keytruda sales came up short. Net income fell to $1.55 billion, or 61 cents a share, from $3.00 billion, or $1.18 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as a $1.7 billion charge for the acquisition of Pandion Therapeutics, adjusted earnings per share rose to $1.31 from $1.02 to match the FactSet consensus of $1.31. Sales grew 19% to $11.40 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $11.08 billion. Pharmaceutical sales rose 22% to $9.98 billion, while sales of its key cancer treatment Keytruda increased 23% to $4.18 billion but missed expectations of $4.35 billion. For 2021, the company expects adjusted EPS of $5.47 to $5.57, surrounding the FactSet consensus of $5.52, and expects revenue of $46.4 billion to $47.4 billion, above expectations of $46.2 billion. Merck’s stock has edged up 0.4% year to date through Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.36% has gained 14.1%.
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