By Val Brickates Kennedy
Drug stocks inched lower in early trading Friday, as shares of
Allergan Inc. (AGN) gained after the company issued a positive
second-quarter earnings report.
The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index and the NYSE Arca
Biotechnology Index were both down marginally at 279.33 and 875.41,
respectively.
Shares of Botox-maker Allergan climbed 3% to $54.14. Allergan
said Friday its second-quarter earnings rose to $176.1 million, or
58 cents a share, from $143.4 million, or 47 cents a share, in the
year-earlier period.
Excluding various items, Allergan would have posted adjusted
earnings of 75 cents a share compared to the year-earlier 63 cents.
Revenue for the quarter slipped to $1.13 billion from $1.17
billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of 67 cents a
share, on average.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company also issued its financial
forecast. It now sees adjusted earnings of 67 cents to 69 cents a
share for the third quarter and $2.71 to $2.75 a share for the full
year. According to FactSet, Wall Street is expecting per-share
earnings of 72 cents for the third quarter and $2.70 for the full
year.
Shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) advanced 4% to $21.66. On
Thursday, Endo said that while its second-quarter profit fell on
various charges, revenue rose 22% to $373 million.
Excluding various items, Endo would have reported adjusted
earnings of 73 cents a share versus 59 cents for the 2008 period.
Endo also said it believes it will be able to hit the upper end of
its 2009 adjusted earnings forecast of $2.59 to $2.67 a share.
Merck & Co. (MRK) shares were up almost 2% to $30.39.
On Thursday, Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) said it was buying Merck's
stake in their animal-health joint venture Merial Limited for $4
billion. Merck was expected to divest the venture as part of its
impending merger with Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP), which also has a
sizeable animal health-care business.
-Val Brickates Kennedy; 415-439-6400;
AskNewswires@dowjones.com