Merck Stock Drops as 2025 and Q4 forecasts fall short


A blue Merck sign is seen in front of trees and buildings.

Arne dedert / Picture Alliance/ Getty Images

The Key Takeaways

  • Merck shares fell sharply Tuesday morning after the drugmaker's profits and 2025 outlook fell short of estimates.
  • However, revenue and adjusted earnings managed to exceed expectations.
  • The company reported that the lower demand for Merck’s drugs abroad and the lower prices in the U.S. had a negative impact on sales.

Merck shares tumbled Tuesday morning after the drugmaker's soft outlook outweighed fourth-quarter revenue that topped expectations.

Visible Alpha’s estimates show that Merck reported $15.62 billion of revenue in the first quarter. That was an increase of 7% over the same period last year, and slightly above the estimated $15.43 million. Net income for the company was $3.74 billion or $1.48 a share. This compares to a loss of $1.2 billion a year earlier but is below what analysts expected.

After adjusting for one-time charges like costs related to acquisitions, however, Merck's adjusted net income of $4.37 billion topped estimates of $4.21 billion.

Outlook for 2025 is far below estimates

In 2025, drugmaker estimates revenue between $64.1 billion and $65.6 million, while adjusted earnings per share is expected between $8.88 per share to $9.03. The consensus estimate for 2025 is $67.08 Billion in Revenue and $9.09 Adjusted EPS.

Sales rose across most of Merck's medication portfolio, with declining sales for Gardasil and Januvia attributed to lower demand in some international regions and lower pricing in the U.S., respectively.

Merck stock was down by more than 10% on Tuesday.

Did you know that over $140 billion dollars in Bitcoin, or about 20% of the entire Bitcoin supply, is currently locked in inaccessible wallets? Or maybe you have lost access to your Bitcoin wallet? Don’t let those funds remain out of reach! AI Seed Phrase Finder is here to help you regain access effortlessly. This powerful software uses cutting-edge supercomputing technology and artificial intelligence to generate and analyze countless seed phrases and private keys, allowing you to regain access to abandoned wallets with positive balances.
leadzevs/ author of the article

LeadZevs (John Lesley) is an experienced trader specializing in technical analysis and forecasting of the cryptocurrency market. He has over 10 years of experience with a wide range of markets and assets - currencies, indices and commodities.John is the author of popular topics on major forums with millions of views and works as both an analyst and a professional trader for both clients and himself.

Crypto pump signals for Binance