Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) delivered better-than-expected third-quarter results on Tuesday, helped by strong product sales and continued momentum in newer therapies such as Repatha and Tezspire. Shares of the biotech company rose 2.5% in premarket trading Wednesday.
Excluding one-time items, Amgen reported earnings of $5.64 per share, beating Wall Street’s forecast of $5.04, while revenue climbed 12% to $9.56 billion. Product sales also rose 12%, as increased volumes more than offset lower pricing, with sixteen of its drugs achieving double-digit growth.
Amgen exceeded both revenue and profit estimates, but “similar to 2Q, we’d stress meaningful one-time benefits padded the print,” said Alexandria Hammond, an analyst at Wolfe Research. “With that backdrop, we’re maintaining our Peer Perform rating until we have more clarity on growth drivers,” she added.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley echoed a similar view, noting that “AMGN posted a 3Q beat on rev and EPS, but benefitted from some one-timers,” while emphasizing that “new launches and pipeline progress remain a focus on the forward.”
Among the company’s key products, cholesterol-lowering drug Repatha surged 40% year-on-year to $794 million, while osteoporosis treatment Evenity grew 36% to $541 million. Asthma therapy Tezspire jumped 40% to $377 million.
Prolia, Amgen’s top-selling drug, increased 9% to $1.1 billion, though the company cautioned that sales may decline in the near term as biosimilar competitors enter the U.S. market.
Operating income rose to $2.5 billion, supported by improved margins, though expenses increased due to continued investment in Amgen’s experimental weight-loss drug MariTide and a $400 million impairment charge tied to psoriasis medication Otezla. Free cash flow reached $4.2 billion during the quarter.
Amgen said it expects mid-stage trial data for MariTide, which targets both obesity and diabetes, later this year, and confirmed that enrollment is complete for two late-stage studies. The treatment, which acts on GLP-1 and GIP pathways, is seen as a potential key player in the booming obesity drug market.
For 2025, the company forecast adjusted earnings between $20.60 and $21.40 per share and revenue in the range of $35.8 billion to $36.6 billion, slightly above analysts’ expectations at the midpoint.