Amgen Falls Short in Fourth Quarter

Amgen Inc. released fourth-quarter and full-year financial results that missed Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue, after which its stock slipped in after-hours trading. The Thousand Oaks biotech giant on Thursday reported adjusted profits of $2.1 billion for the period ended Dec. 31, compared to net income of roughly $2.2 billion for the same quarter a year ago. Earnings were flat at $2.89 a share, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $3.03 a share, according to Thomson Financial. Revenue declined 3 percent compared to the same quarter in 2016, coming in at $5.8 billion. Wall Street had expected revenue of $5.83 billion. Earnings for the full year were $12.58 a share, an increase of 8 percent over 2016. Analysts had expected annual earnings of $12.71 a share. Revenue for year fell to nearly $22.9 billion, a 1 percent decline from the nearly $23 billion generated in 2016. Amgen’s total product sales declined 2 percent year over year during the fourth quarter and were flat for 2017, the company said. The fall was driven primarily by weaker full-year and fourth-quarter sales for four of the 16 drugs in the company’s portfolio, including a nearly 30 percent decline in sales of Amgen’s blood cancer drug Neupogen and a 15 percent decrease in sales of Epogen, which is used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease. Sales of most of the company’s other drugs were stronger compared to previous periods. Demand for Amgen’s cholesterol drug Repatha – which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 1 for the prevention of heart attacks in patients with cardiovascular disease – grew the most, with comparable sales increasing 69 percent for the fourth quarter and 126 percent for the full year. Amgen disclosed its financial results after trading ended on Thursday. Shares of Amgen fell 49 cents, or less than 1 percent, during the day to close at $185.56 on the Nasdaq. The company’s stock fell around 2.5 percent in after hours trading, hovering around $181.56 at press time.