By Jorge Mercado Thursday, November 3rd, 2022

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen saw a slight decline in revenue for the third quarter of 2022, but a substantial increase in earnings helped the company beat analysts’ expectations and maintain its stock price.

One of the largest biotechnology companies in the world, Amgen delivered net income of $2.1 billion, or $3.98 per share, in the third quarter, up from last year’s totals of $1.8 billion and $3.31 per share.

In a news release, Amgen said the reason for the sharp increase was a decrease in operating expenses due to a $400 million licensing-related upfront payment to Kyowa Kirin in the third quarter of 2021, as well as lower weighted-average shares outstanding in the third quarter of 2022.

In June 2021, Amgen entered into an agreement with Kyowa to pay $400 million upfront, and as much as $850 million, to develop a joint atopic dermatitis drug.

Adjusted for one-time losses, Amgen’s earnings per share was 15% higher at $4.70 a share, easily beating analysts’ expectations of $4.44 for the quarter, according to FactSet.

Revenue dropped slightly from a year earlier, by 1%, to $6.65 billion. Amgen said this was resulting from 1% decline in global product sales, which reflected 8% volume growth offset primarily by 5% lower net selling price and 2% negative impact from foreign exchange. 

If you excluded the 2% negative impact of foreign exchange on product sales, total revenues increased 2%, the company said.

Regardless, Amgen still outdid analysts’ expectations of $6.5 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Amgen CEO Bob Bradway said during the company’s earnings call that in the face of economic headwinds, Amgen continues to deliver strong results.

“All told, 11 of our products generated record sales in the quarter and non-GAAP earnings per share increased 15% with free cash flows reaching $2.8 billion for the quarter,” Bradway said.

Amgen shares closed down 1% on Nov. 3 at $265.88. The earnings were released after the markets closed, and Amgen gained 0.6% in after-hours trading.

Looking forward, Bradway said the company is excited about the recent closing of Amgen’s most recent acquisition, ChemoCentrix.

ChemoCentrix’s key drug was Tevneos, which Bradway described as “the first new treatment for ANCA-associated vasculitis in more than 10 years.”

“We’re confident that we can leverage our decades of experience in inflammation and nephrology to bring this innovative medicine to many more patients moving forward,” he said.

Two of Amgen’s most recent launches, Tezspire and Lumakras, continued seeing growth in the third quarter of 2022.

Lumakras, a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer, generated sales of $57 million in the third quarter, a 3% decrease due to price adjustments in Germany, but the company’s volume sales were 15% higher, a record amount.

On Sept. 11, Amgen released a study showcasing just how much of a difference Lumakras has made in patients.

Sales for Tezpire, a treatment for severe asthma, accounted for $55 million in the third quarter, nearly doubling its second quarter sales of $29 million, driven by strong adoption by both allergists and pulmonologists across all severe asthma patient types, Amgen said in its earnings release.

Sales of Enbrel, Amgen’s premier drug, slipped to $1.1 billion, a 17% decrease, in the third quarter as more biosimilars cut into its sales.

Bradway reaffirmed Amgen’s interest in the biosimilar market and hopes to launch the first U.S. biosimilar to Humira, AbbVie’s immunosuppressive drug, by January.

Sales for Prolia, an osteoporosis treatment, surged 7% to $862 million while Otezla, which treats inflammation, saw a 3% increase to $627 million.

Amgen’s drugs that saw the biggest increases included Evenity and Aimovig, an osteoporosis and migraine treatment, respectively.

Both drugs sales surged more than 30% year-over-year, with Evenity bringing in $201 million and Aimovig brining in $107 million.

Amgen ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents worth $11.4 billion.