Amgen (AMGN) Stock Gains in After-Hours Trading on Earnings Beat

Neupogen revenues decreased 5% to $284 million. It attributed gains to increases in non-advertising revenue from subscriber fees, content licensing and spectrum leasing. Among other key drugs, sales of osteoporosis drugs, Prolia and Xgeva, grew 25% and 19% YoY, respectively.

Saban Capital Group Inc., a private equity firm in Los Angeles, has recently made investments in Asian media and communications companies including Taomee Holdings Limited, Celestial Tiger Entertainment, and Media Nusantara Citra, among others.

Amgen now has eight drugs selling in the blockbuster range, more than $1 billion per year, but Neupogen will soon drop off that list.

The Thousand Oaks, California-based company said revenue rose 14 per cent to $5.72 billion, partly due to price increases.

Total product revenues increased 14% from the year-ago quarter to $5,516 million (U.S.: $4,425 million, ex-U.S.: $1,091 million) with products like Enbrel, Kyprolis, Sensipar, Prolia, Neulasta and Xgeva driving growth.

The world’s biggest biotech company and 11th-biggest drugmaker by revenue reported net income of $1.86 billion, or $2.44 per share.

Analysts on average expected earnings of $2.38 on revenue of $5.32 billion, according to Thomson Financial Network. Neulasta, which increases white blood cell counts, and anemia drug Aranesp, drove sales growth as well. Foreign exchange headwinds negatively impacted sales by 2% during the quarter.

Amgen reported continued progress on its drug pipeline, with several launches under way, including cholesterol drug Repatha, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in late August.

Sales of Enbrel jumped to $1.46 billion, topping analysts’ expectations of about $1.23 billion.

Amgen shares gained 1.56 percent to $165.20 in the after-hours trading session.

In its earnings release Wednesday, Amgen didn’t break out sales figures for Repatha, or for its new heart-drug, Corlanor, which received FDA approval in April. Neulasta sales were up 6%, reaching $1.37 billion.

The company raised its 2015 per-share earnings estimate to $9.95 to $10.10 on revenue of $21.4 billion to $21.6 billion, compared with per-share profit of $9.55 to $9.80 on revenue of $21.1 billion to $21.4 billion. They also said that payers are covering the drug in line with its label, for high-risk patients with bad cholesterol levels above 130. JP Morgan analyst, Cory Kasimov does not expect the drug to “materially move the needle” for Amgen in cardiovascular disease market. Sales outlook was lifted to $21.4-21.6 billion from a prior estimate of $21.1-21.4 billion.

As for 2016, the company now foresees revenue rolling in between $21.7 billion and $22.3 billion, which should produce a per-share profit between $10.35 and $10.75.

Univision Communications Inc., the Spanish-language media company owned by Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban, reported third-quarter revenue rose by 10 percent compared to the same period a year before.