Amgen Inc. shared its fourth quarter and full-year financial results late Monday, with a subsequent announcement Tuesday that it plans to spend $6 billion buying back shares during the first quarter.
For the fourth quarter, the Thousand Oaks company reported net income of $1.9 billion ($3.36 a share), compared to $1.6 billion ($2.78 a share) for the previous year. Revenue increased 3 percent to $6.8 billion.
Product sales decreased 1 percent globally for the fourth quarter and remained flat versus 2020, with a 7 percent growth in unit volume offset by a 7 percent decline in net selling price.
“We realized strong volume growth for many of our key products during last year,” Robert Bradway, Amgen’s chief executive, said in a statement. “These products, combined with our many pipeline opportunities, position us well for long-term growth.”
For the full year, revenue increased 2 percent to $26 billion through the company’s manufacturing collaboration with Eli Lilly that saw the companies collaborate to increase Lilly’s supply capacity of COVID-19 therapies.
Annual GAAP earnings per share decreased 16 percent to $10.28, primarily driven by a write-off of $1.5 billion associated with Amgen’s acquisition of Five Prime Therapeutics.
In the business review announcement Tuesday, Amgen outlined a growth strategy through 2030 “by serving many more patients globally than it does today, both with its current portfolio of marketed medicines and with the numerous new medicines it is advancing through its pipeline.”
Its next generation of medicines will try to address “undruggable” diseases, according to the company.
Also, the company plans to spend between $6 billion and $7 billion this year to buy back shares, including its plans to buy back up to $6 billion of its shares during the first quarter.
Shares of Amgen closed up $17.48, or 7.8 percent, on Tuesday to close at $241.01 on the Nasdaq, a market that closed up 1.3 percent.