By Deena Beasley
(Reuters) – Amgen Inc on Tuesday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as sales of newer drugs offset lower revenue from older off-patent medications, but the biotech company forecast 2021 earnings below Wall Street estimates.
For the full year, Amgen said it expects adjusted earnings of $16.00 to $17.00 per share on revenue of $25.8 billion to $26.6 billion. Analysts were looking for $17.03 per share on revenue of $26.45 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amgen said physician-patient interactions remained below normal levels in the fourth quarter and it expects that to continue through 2021.
In a statement, the company said recovery in the latter part of the year is contingent on the speed and effectiveness of the global vaccination rollout.
For the fourth quarter, Amgen reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.81, beating the average analyst estimate of $3.40 per share. The number of Amgen shares outstanding fell 13% from a year earlier.
Net profit for the quarter fell 3% to $2.76 per share.
Quarterly revenue rose 7% to $6.6 billion, in line with analysts’ estimates.
Sales of older rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel fell 5% to $1.27 billion, shy of analysts’ estimate of $1.3 billion.
Sales of newer migraine drug Aimovig totaled $104 million for the quarter, short of the $115 million projected by analysts. But sales of cholesterol fighter Repatha rose 27% to $253 million, beating Wall Street estimates of $223 million.
Sales of Neulasta, which fights infections by boosting white blood cells, fell 19% to $536 million, while sales of kidney drug Sensipar dropped 58% to $45 million in the face of increased competition from cheaper generics and biosimilars.
Amgen, which produces its own biosimilar versions of drugs from rival companies, said sales of those medicines rose in the fourth quarter.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
