What happened
Amgen (AMGN +0.79%) reported its first-quarter results after the market closed on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, its stock really took it on the chin. In late afternoon trading today, it was down by 6.6%.
So what
For the quarter, Amgen's revenue fell 4% year over year to $5.9 billion. This was due to a drop in overall selling prices for the company's products, offset somewhat by increased volume. As for adjusted net profit, it was $2.15 billion ($3.70 per share), representing a steeper fall of 14%.
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On average, analysts tracking the stock were modeling $6.25 billion in revenue and $4.05 per share for adjusted net profit.
"While our business continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the first two months of the quarter, we are encouraged by strong volume trends in many of our newer products and remain confident in the outlook for the full year," the company quoted CEO Robert Bradway as saying.
Amgen reiterated its full-year 2021 forecasts for revenue and adjusted EPS. The former stays at $25.8 billion to $26.6 billion, and the latter is $16 to $17.
Now what
One effect of the pandemic is that people have postponed certain nonessential medical procedures. This is one major factor in the declines suffered by many pharmaceutical companies, Amgen included. Still, the company's portfolio is solid and its pipeline robust, so perhaps today's drop in the stock price presents an opportunity to grab shares on the cheap.
