Merck beats third-quarter estimates on Keytruda and Gardasil, lifts profit forecast
Merck reported revenue of $18.1 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.49, above forecasts, and raised its 2026 earnings outlook to $2.77-$2.82 per share.
US drugmaker Merck posted better-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday, driven by its cancer immunotherapy Keytruda and HPV vaccine Gardasil, Reuters reports. Shares rose nearly 2% premarket.
The numbers
- Revenue: $18.1 billion, versus about $17.3 billion expected (LSEG).
- Adjusted EPS: $2.49, versus $2.08 expected.
- Keytruda sales rose 6% to $8.6 billion, including $830 million from the new subcutaneous Keytruda QLEX.
- Gardasil sales rose 14% to just under $2 billion, helped by early purchases by the US CDC.
- Winrevair, for pulmonary arterial hypertension, brought in $694 million, up 94%.
Merck said about $550 million of the quarter’s growth came from purchases made earlier than expected.
Outlook
The company raised the low end of its 2026 revenue forecast to $66.8 billion (high end unchanged at $67.3 billion) and now expects adjusted EPS of $2.77-$2.82, up from $2.66-$2.76. Keytruda starts losing key patent protection in 2028, and Merck has spent billions on deals to replace that revenue.
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