Merck beats Q3 estimates and raises full-year guidance for third time; shares climb 5%+ (Oct 29)
What happened
Merck delivered a clean beat-and-raise third quarter. Worldwide sales grew 4% on a constant-currency basis to $18.1 billion versus $17.3 billion expected. Adjusted EPS of $2.49 easily beat the $2.09 Wall Street projected — even after a 12-cent-per-share charge tied to Merck's global license agreement with Shanghai's SciBrunch to co-develop a drug targeting tumor growth. Keytruda, Merck's biggest product, recorded $8.6 billion in sales across intravenous and subcutaneous formulations; the subcutaneous Keytruda QLex brought in $830 million, up 6% year over year, and has tracked ahead of analysts' projections since its September 2025 approval. Winrevair (pulmonary arterial hypertension) also beat at $694 million versus $638 million expected. Merck lifted full-year guidance for the third time this year: worldwide sales of $66.8–$67.3 billion (midpoint roughly in line with Street) and adjusted EPS of $2.77–$2.82 (up from $2.66–$2.76 prior and ahead of the $2.64 Street call), though the revised outlook remains well below Merck's initial projections from the start of the year. Shares surged about 5% premarket and gained more than 5% at the open.
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Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- MRK (Merck) — beat on Keytruda, Winrevair, and guidance raise; +5%+ at open
- Oncology sector — read-through on Keytruda strength and subcutaneous oncology-delivery trend
- SciBrunch (licensing partner) — co-developing the tumor-growth drug behind the 12-cent Q3 charge