Merck Misses on Revenues but Beats on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Merck (NYS: MRK) reported earnings on May 1. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Merck missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue shrank. Non-GAAP earnings per share dropped. GAAP earnings per share dropped.


Gross margins contracted, operating margins shrank, net margins grew.

Revenue details
 Merck booked revenue of $10.67 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $11.10 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $11.73 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.85. The 17 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.79 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.85 for Q1 were 14% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.99 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.52 for Q1 were 7.1% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.56 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 62.9%, 270 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 17.0%, 760 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 14.9%, 10 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $11.54 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.92.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $46.23 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.64.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,703 members out of 2,917 rating the stock outperform, and 214 members rating it underperform. Among 785 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 746 give Merck a green thumbs-up, and 39 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Merck is outperform, with an average price target of $48.14.

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The article Merck Misses on Revenues but Beats on EPS originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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