Dow Jones Stock Merck Tops Expectations, But Gardasil Challenges Remain

Core Insights - Merck's third-quarter performance exceeded expectations, but challenges with Gardasil and a mixed sales outlook led to a 2.4% decline in stock price [2][10] - Bristol Myers Squibb also reported strong results, raising its full-year sales outlook, while investors are focused on upcoming clinical trial results [2][11] Merck Performance - Merck reported $17.28 billion in sales, a 4% increase, surpassing forecasts of $16.97 billion [7] - Adjusted earnings were $2.58 per share, exceeding expectations of $2.35, with a 64% year-over-year increase [7] - Keytruda, Merck's leading cancer treatment, generated $8.14 billion in sales, a 10% increase, but fell short of the expected $8.2 billion [8] - Sales of Januvia, a diabetes drug, rose 29% to $624 million, significantly exceeding forecasts of $531 million [9] - Merck's sales guidance for the year is now $64.5 billion to $65 billion, slightly narrowed from previous guidance [9][10] New Drug Developments - Winrevair, a new drug for pulmonary arterial hypertension, saw sales of $360 million, a 141% increase, although it missed the $380 million expectation [4][5] - The patient base for Winrevair is growing, with potential market expansion into other forms of pulmonary hypertension [5] Bristol Myers Squibb Performance - Bristol Myers reported adjusted earnings of $1.63 per share and $12.22 billion in sales, both exceeding expectations [11] - Sales growth was driven by its growth portfolio, which increased 18% year-over-year to $6.9 billion [12] - The company raised its full-year sales outlook to $47.5 billion to $48 billion, up from a previous estimate [14]