Merck beats third-quarter estimates and lifts its 2026 sales and earnings outlook
The drugmaker reported revenue of $18.09B against $17.49B expected and raised the bottom of both its sales and per-share earnings ranges.
Chart: MRK, one-minute prices, three sessions
Merck earned $2.49 a share in the third quarter, $0.39 more than expected, and raised its 2026 forecasts for both sales and adjusted earnings. Revenue was $18.09B, against $17.49B expected.
The company now expects 2026 sales of $66.8 billion to $67.3 billion. The range was $66.3 billion to $67.3 billion before, so the top is unchanged and the floor is higher. Adjusted earnings per share are expected at $2.77 to $2.82, up from $2.66 to $2.76.
Chairman and CEO Robert Davis pointed to data presented at the ESMO cancer meeting. He said new results for sac-TMT, and the first Phase 3 validation of a therapeutic cancer vaccine, further de-risk the company's long-term pipeline opportunity.
That pipeline case had been building through October, when sac-TMT data and the intismeran-Keytruda results were offered as evidence that Merck can grow beyond its core franchise. The quarter now puts numbers behind it. The shares had also fallen 3.1% in a selloff tied to Moderna's slide, driven by concern across the sector rather than anything specific to Merck. A higher outlook on both sales and earnings shows the pipeline progress feeding into near-term results, not only a longer-term thesis.
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