What Happened?
Shares of global pharmaceutical company Merck (NYSE: MRK) jumped 5.7% in the afternoon session after the company announced positive results from its Phase 3 HYPERION trial for its drug, WINREVAIR™ (sotatercept-csrk).
The study evaluated the drug in recently diagnosed adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Results showed WINREVAIR, when combined with existing treatments, reduced the risk of clinical worsening events by 76% compared to a placebo. These events included death from any cause, unplanned hospital stays related to PAH, or other forms of disease deterioration. The successful trial findings were presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlighting the significance of the results.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Merck’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 4 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock dropped 11% on the news that the company reported mixed fourth-quarter earnings.
Its full-year revenue and EPS guidance missed by a long shot. The company blamed some of the softness on rising competition and weak demand in China. On the other hand, Merck blew past analysts' constant currency revenue expectations this quarter, and its EPS outperformed Wall Street's estimates. Overall, this was a softer quarter.
Merck is down 15.9% since the beginning of the year, and at $83.38 per share, it is trading 27.3% below its 52-week high of $114.74 from September 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Merck’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,005.
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