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Amgen Inc. late Tuesday reported better-than-expected quarterly profits and sales, but said that the pandemic still is leading to fewer doctor visits and fewer lab tests, hitting its business.
Amgen
AMGN,
said it earned $464 million, or 81 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $1.8 billion, or $3.05 a share, in the year-ago quarter. The GAAP results included a $1.5 billion write-off related to an acquisition.
Adjusted for one-time items, the pharma company earned $4.38 a share, from $4.20 a share a year ago.
Sales rose 5% to $6.5 billion, thanks to higher demand per unit partly offset by lower net selling prices, the company said.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted EPS of $4.09 a share on sales of $6.46 billion.
“We achieved solid, volume-driven growth in the quarter as our business recovered from the effects of the pandemic,” Chief Executive Robert A. Bradway said in a statement.
The company has seen a “gradual recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” with the number of patient visits and lab test procedures rising but still below pre-pandemic levels, it said.
“The cumulative decrease in diagnoses over the course of the pandemic has suppressed the volume of new patients starting treatment, which we expect to continue to impact our business during the second half of the year,” the company said.
Amgen reaffirmed its 2021 guidance of sales between $25.8 billon and $26.6 billion, and adjusted EPS between $16 and $17 for the year.
Shares of Amgen fell 0.4% in the extended session, after ending the regular trading day up 1.8%.
