Amgen Inc. on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profits and sales that topped analysts’ expectations even as revenues dropped for one of its top sellers, the rheumatoid-arthritis drug Enbrel.
The biotech company reported fourth-quarter net income of $767 million, or $1.42 per share, versus $1.62 billion, or $3.00 per share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings of $4.71 topped the FactSet consensus of $4.59. Revenues totaled $8.196 billion in the quarter, up from $6.839 billion a year earlier and beating the FactSet consensus of $8.126 billion.
The results included $954 million in sales from Amgen’s recent acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, including revenues from the thyroid eye-disease treatment Tepezza and chronic gout treatment Krystexxa, the drugmaker said.
For the full year 2024, Amgen said it expects total revenues in the range of $32.4 billion to $33.8 billion and adjusted per-share earnings of $18.90 to $20.30.
Enbrel, one of 10 drugs selected for the first found of Medicare drug-price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, accounted for fourth-quarter sales of $1.015 billion, down 8% from the year-earlier period and falling short of analysts’ estimates. Lower net selling prices accounted for some of that decline, Amgen said, a trend that the company expects to continue as it pays higher rebates to maintain payer coverage.
Cholesterol treatment Repatha also missed analysts’ expectations, with $417 million in total fourth-quarter sales.
Osteoporosis drug Prolia was a bright spot in the quarter, with $1.1 billion in sales, up 12% from a year earlier and beating analysts’ expectations.
Amgen shares have gained more than 16% over the past three months as investors eyed the company’s potential in the obesity-drug market. Amgen researchers on Monday published an early-stage study of the drugmaker’s experimental obesity drug, known as AMG133 or MariTide, a potential competitor to Eli Lilly & Co.’s
LLY,
recently approved Zepbound.
Patients taking MariTide lost up to 14.5% of their body weight after 85 days, according to the study, and in some cases kept weight off for 150 days after their last dose.
The less-frequent dosing of MariTide, given once every four weeks, could offer more convenience for patients and less manufacturing burden than once-weekly injections like Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s
NOVO.B,
Wegovy, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan David Seigerman wrote in a note Monday. Investors are anticipating full phase 2 trial results for MariTide later this year.
Amgen shares
AMGN,
have gained 9.7% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX
has gained 3.9%.
