Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company – one of the largest in the world. The stock was up 7.57% at the top of the noon hour on January 16. The company announced that a cocktail of its drug Keytruda and two chemotherapy medicines had succeeded in extending the life of lung cancer patients and halting the progress of the disease.
Merck is in competition with a number of other pharmaceutical giants that are developing combination cancer treatments. The company had already gained U.S. regulatory approval for successful trials in the past.
The stock has now climbed 11.7% in 2018. Shares struggled in the latter months of 2017 after the company released its third quarter results on October 27. Worldwide sales declined 2% to $10.3 billion in the third quarter of 2017, with a 1% boost due to foreign exchange. Keytruda and Merck’s animal health business reported quarterly sales of $1 billion.
Merck narrowed and raised its 2017 full year projections to EPS between $1.78 and $1.84 and it expects revenue to be between $40 billion and $40.5 billion. The company will release its 2017 fourth quarter and full year results on February 2.
Experts and analysts have lauded the recent breakthrough that Merck announced for its Keytruda drug, but the competition is still fierce. Analysts project Keytruda to eventually generate over $8 billion in sales for Merck by 2020. The stock is still recovering from its swoon following third quarter results, and also offers a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share representing a 3% dividend yield.
