Amgen and Merck delivered strong third-quarter reports within a week of each other, beating estimates and raising their full-year 2026 outlooks. Both companies are held in Investing.com’s Dominate the Dow strategy, which selects 10 stocks from the Dow Jones Industrial Average each month. The strategy added Amgen at $268.46 and Merck at $103.13 and retained both through subsequent monthly rebalancing.
Amgen reported quarterly revenue of $10.37 billion, up 8% year over year. Non-GAAP earnings per share rose 14% to $6.45, while GAAP EPS was $7.08. The company raised its 2026 revenue forecast to $38.9 billion-$39.7 billion, from $38.2 billion-$39.4 billion, and its non-GAAP EPS outlook to $22.90-$23.70, from $22.30-$23.50.
Several products recorded strong sales growth. Repatha revenue increased 37% to $1.09 billion, while Evenity rose 39% to $751 million. Tezspire grew 43% to $538 million and Uplizna surged 191% to $451 million. Imdelltra sales more than doubled, increasing 128% to $406 million. Amgen also reported declines in Prolia and Xgeva sales, down 45% and 47%, respectively, as biosimilars entered the market.
Amgen generated $3.7 billion in Free cash flow during the quarter and ended it with $13.2 billion in cash. Its quarterly dividend is $2.52 per share, following a 6% increase. The company’s obesity drug MariTide is in Phase 3 trials, with two additional studies in type 2 diabetes expected to begin in the fourth quarter.
Merck posted revenue of $18.1 billion, compared with expectations of about $17.3 billion, and adjusted EPS of $2.49, against an estimate of roughly $2.08. Keytruda sales rose 6% to $8.6 billion, including $830 million from the subcutaneous formulation Keytruda Qlex. Winrevair revenue climbed 94% to $694 million, while Gardasil sales increased 14% to just under $2 billion.
The company raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $2.77-$2.82, from $2.66-$2.76. It also increased the lower end of its revenue forecast, setting a new range of $66.8 billion-$67.3 billion, compared with the previous $66.3 billion-$67.3 billion range. Reports cited in the source said about $550 million of quarterly growth came from customers purchasing earlier than Merck had anticipated. They also noted that Keytruda faces the loss of key patent protection from 2028.
The Investing.com strategy’s reported returns since each stock was selected are 71.82% for Amgen, picked on December 1, 2024, and 40.28% for Merck, picked on January 1, 2026. The source also reports that Dominate the Dow returned 19.49% in calendar 2026, 11.83 percentage points ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and 70.05% since its October 2023 launch, outperforming the index by 14.40 points. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Sources: Investing.com News.