Merck's 4Q Revenue Falls Short

Merck's quarterly revenue narrowly missed Wall Street expectations, hurt by lower-than-expected sales of its key immuno-oncology drug, Keytruda, and its diabetes medicines.

The company also forecast 2017 adjusted earnings in the range of $3.72 to $3.87 per share on revenue of $38.6 billion-$40.1 billion.

Analysts on average were expecting an adjusted profit of $3.85 per share and revenue of $40.04 billion.

Sales of Keytruda, which works by taking the brakes off the immune system, more than doubled to $483 million in the fourth-quarter, but missed the consensus estimate of $508.8 million, according to Evercore ISI.

The company's diabetes drugs, Januvia and Janumet, generated sales of $1.51 billion, also coming below expectations of $1.58 billion.

Quarterly sales fell 1 percent to $10.12 billion, which the company blamed on a strong dollar and loss of market exclusivity on certain drugs.

Analysts on average had expected sales of $10.22 billion.

Excluding items, Merck earned 89 cents per share, in line with Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S estimates.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose to $1.17 billion, or 42 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 from $976 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Natalie Grover; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila