Merck stock pops on earnings beat, COVID treatment sales

Yahoo Finance Live’s Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi discuss first quarter earnings for Merck.

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JULIE HYMAN: More earnings for you right now, a lot more, but we're just going to do what we have time and breath for in the next few minutes as we await the opening bell. We've got Merck shares trading a little bit higher here. You can see the earnings beat estimates by a comfortable margin, as did sales.

It's interesting if you look under the hood and see what was driving it here. So part of it had to do with its COVID antiviral oral medication. It came out with sales of $3.2 billion from that drug alone, which was above estimates. This is the first full quarter of sales in which Merck benefited from that. Keytruda, it's a cancer drug, also coming out ahead of estimates with its sales of $4.8 billion. And its HPV vaccine Gardasil with almost 1 and 1/2 billion dollars in sales in the quarter also ahead of estimates, Brian Sozzi.

It did cut its full-year sales for that COVID antiviral medication. But that doesn't seem to be hurting things here.

BRIAN SOZZI: Oh, you know me, Julie. You know I love my animals, my cows, my horses, and my puppies. And I'm looking right at Merck's animal health revenue, only up 4% in the most recent quarter. It has me a little worried on how those earnings over at competitor Zoetis, when they report next week, what those numbers look like.

Merck noting sales of companion animal products, they were good, and also good, sales of livestock products, notably to the poultry industry. But by and large, looked a little weak-ish to me.

JULIE HYMAN: So your fluffy puppy indicator, what is it?

BRIAN SOZZI: Over 1 million views on yahoo.com and counting, Julie. Everybody thought I was a little crazy. It's all about the fluffy puppies. How don't you click on them?

JULIE HYMAN: No, but I'm asking what these numbers tell you. How does that read through for the fluffy puppy indicator?

BRIAN SOZZI: I think the indicator predicted today's GDP, Julie, if you ask me. But, hey, I'm biased.

JULIE HYMAN: All right. I won't ask you to explain too much further.

BRIAN SOZZI: No need. No need.