According to a research report published by Morgan Stanley, Merck, with the support of the anti-cancer drug Keytruda, despite negative factors from foreign exchange, achieved another excellent result in the first quarter. The bank raised its 2024 earnings forecast for the company and raised its target price from $128 to $132. It believes that the focus for the rest of the year will be on the Winrevair listing. The initial comments are encouraging. The bank gave Merck a “in sync with the market” rating.
According to the report, the new revenue guide is 63.1 billion to 64.3 billion US dollars, and the bank raised its forecast from 64.5 billion to 65 billion US dollars, and the market forecast is 63.9 billion US dollars, including negative factors from the 400 million yuan increase from foreign exchange. The new earnings per share guide falls between $8.53 and $8.65. Compared with the bank's new forecast of $8.96 and the market forecast of $8.57, it includes a reduction of $0.26 due to the acquisition of IPR&D, and minus $0.05 from foreign exchange risk.