Merck 3Q Revenue Up on Keytruda, Winrevair Growth — Update

By Kelly Cloonan

Merck & Co. reported higher revenue in the latest quarter, pointing to strength for drugs such as Keytruda and Winrevair, as well as its animal health business.

The third-quarter results topped Wall Street's expectations, and prompted the company to bump up both its profit and sales forecasts for the year.

The stock gained 4.5% to $147.27 on Thursday, and is now up 40% year to date.

Chief Executive Robert Davis highlighted momentum across multiple therapeutic areas, which he said is bolstering his confidence in the company's future, especially as it braces for its blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda to lose its main U.S. patent protection in 2028.

"The opportunity we have to drive strong long-term growth beyond the Keytruda low period is becoming increasingly clear," Davis said during a call with analysts.

Keytruda generated almost half of Merck's total worldwide sales in the third quarter, with sales of the drug up 6% at $8.6 billion due to uptake in earlier-stage indications such as triple-negative breast cancer and cervical cancer, the company said.

Keytruda's performance also was boosted by a new form of the drug called Qlex, which brought in $830 million in sales in the quarter. Qlex is administered by injection, rather than intravenously, and got approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year.

Winrevair, a pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment, also contributed to Merck's overall topline growth, with sales up 93% year over year at $694 million.

Merck also pointed to strength in its animal health business, where sales rose 4% to $1.7 billion.

Overall, Merck's third-quarter sales rose 5%, to $18.09 billion, compared with FactSet analyst estimates of $17.35 billion.

Third-quarter profit came in at $5.07 billion, or $2.04 a share, compared with $5.79 billion, or $2.32 a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted earnings per share were $2.49, compared with analyst estimates of $2.09.

The company said both its earnings and adjusted earnings figures include a one-time charge of 12 cents a share tied to a global license agreement with SciBrunch.

For the full year, Merck now projects adjusted earnings per share of $2.77 to $2.82, up from its prior forecast of $2.66 to $2.76. The updated outlook factors in the charge related to SciBrunch.

The company also raised the midpoint of its full-year sales forecast, now guiding for a range of $66.8 billion to $67.3 billion, compared with $66.3 billion to $67.3 billion previously.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect adjusted per-share earnings of $2.64 on sales of $67 billion for the year.

The company had slashed its prior full-year profit outlook in August to factor in charges tied to its acquisition of cancer biotech company Terns Pharmaceuticals. At the time, it also bumped up its full-year sales outlook.

Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 29, 2026 10:35 ET (14:35 GMT)