Merck second-quarter profit more than doubles, tops forecast

Merck & Co. (MRK) on Tuesday reported earnings that more than doubled in its second quarter, and topped analysts' expectations.

The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey-based company said net income increased to $2 billion, or 68 cents per share, from $906 million, or 30 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 85 cents per share. The average per-share estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for profit of 81 cents.

The company reported revenue of $10.93 billion compared with $11.01 billion in the same quarter a year ago, and beat Wall Street forecasts. Analysts expected $10.71 billion, according to Zacks.

Merck shares have increased $7.92, or 16 percent, to $57.97 since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 7.1 percent. The stock has climbed $9.63, or 20 percent, in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated automatically by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Full MRK report: http://www.zacks.com/ap/MRK

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Keywords:Merck,Earnings Report