What happened
An estimates-beating quarter and raised guidance were the elements pushing Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 0.21%) shares comfortably higher on Friday. As of late-afternoon trading, the stock was up by nearly 5%.
So what
After market hours on Thursday, Vertex published its second-quarter results. These showed that the busy pharmaceutical company earned just under $2.2 billion, a robust 22% improvement over the same period of last year. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income saw a far more dramatic rise, though, increasing by a factor of over 20 to hit $930 million, or $3.60 per share.
Analysts tracking Vertex stock weren't expecting such good performance. Their estimates were lower than reality, at a shade over $2.1 billion for revenue and $3.49 for adjusted, per-share net income.
Vertex's growth was powered by its current blockbuster drug, Trikafta. The cystic fibrosis treatment brought in just under $1.9 billion for the period, which was a mighty 51% higher on a year-over-year basis. Sales of the company's three other commercialized medicines, however, fell compared to the same period of 2021.
Now what
But blockbuster drugs have a way of energizing a company's finances, and keeping investors sweet. Based largely on the lively uptake of Trikafta abroad, Vertex has raised its full-year guidance.
For the entirety of 2022, the company now believes it will earn $8.6 billion to $8.8 billion in product revenue (which likely means total revenue, as this has been Vertex's recent dynamic). Previously, that range was $8.4 billion to $8.6 billion. Major expenses should tally $3.0 billion to $3.1 billion, up from the preceding estimate of slightly over $2.8 billion to a bit more than $2.9 billion.
No bottom-line guidance was provided.
