Merck / Pfizer Earnings Summaries: Staying With Merck For Now, Pfizer's Cost-Cutting Will Help Margins
Summary
- The prime culprit for yesterday’s 9.8% drop in Merck was what seemed to be a rather slight slip in Gardasil revenue – Merck’s HPV vaccine – which came in about $20 million below consensus.
- At $113 – $115 per share, MRK is now trading at 14x and 12x 2024 and 2025 consensus estimates for expected growth this year that compares to ’22 $7.48 in EPS.
- Pfizer reported a good quarter yesterday, with a 2% revenue beat and a 30% EPS for y-o-y growth of 2%, 9% operating income growth and -2% decline in EPS.
- PFE’s current dividend yield is 5.47%, and I suspect that will keep investors patient in an uncertain growth-stock market and further uncertainty around the Fed and FOMC.
Brian Gilmartin, is a portfolio manager at Trinity Asset Management, a firm he founded in May, 1995, catering to individual investors and institutions that werent getting the attention and service deserved, from larger firms. Brian started in the business as a fixed-income / credit analyst, with a Chicago broker-dealer, and then worked at Stein Roe & Farnham in Chicago, from 1992 - 1995, before striking out on his own and managing equity and balanced accounts for clients. Brian has a BSBA (Finance) from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, (1982) and an MBA (Finance) from Loyola University, Chicago, January, 1985. The CFA was awarded in 1994. Brian has been fortunate enough to write for the TheStreet.com from 2000 to 2012, and then the WallStreet AllStars from August 2011, to Spring, 2012. Brian also wrote for Minyanville.com, and has been quoted in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal.