First-quarter earnings kick-started last week for the pharma/biotech sector.  A few pharma bigwigs have reported so far, along with a few biotech players. Several are scheduled to report shortly. Bellwether

Johnson & Johnson


JNJ


reported

mixed results, beating on earnings but missing revenue estimates. Swiss major

Novartis


NVS

too reported mixed first-quarter results as earnings beat estimates, but sales

lagged

expectations. Roche’s

performance

in the first quarter was encouraging, driven by demand for COVID-19 tests and contribution from newer drugs.

Per the Zacks classification, the pharma/biotech industry comes under the broader

Medical

sector, which comprises pharma/biotech and medical device companies.

Per the

Earnings Trends

report, as of Apr 27, 21.1% of the companies in the Medical sector, constituting nearly 37.2% of the sector’s market capitalization, reported earnings. While 83.3% beat earnings estimates, 75% topped the same for sales. Earnings increased 5.6% year over year on 14% higher revenues. Overall, first-quarter earnings for the Medical sector are expected to rise 10.5% on a 13.8% sales increase.

Let’s analyze three pharma/biotech companies —

Bristol Myers


BMY

,

AbbVie


ABBV

and

AstraZeneca


AZN

that are set to report results on Apr 29.

Bristol Myers

Bristol-Myers is scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell. The company beat earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters and missed in one, the average surprise being 1.01%. In the last reported quarter, the company met expectations.

Per our proven model, stocks with the combination of a positive

Earnings ESP

and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) have a good chance of delivering an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our

Earnings ESP Filter

.

Bristol-Myers currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.57% and a Zacks Rank #3, indicating a likely earnings surprise. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings stands at $1.92 per share.

Earnings in the first quarter might have

gained

from strong demand for Eliquis and incremental contribution from newer drugs. Label expansions of Opdivo are likely to have boosted results.

AbbVie

AbbVie has an excellent track record, with earnings beating estimates in all of the last four quarters, the surprise being 2.55%, on average. In the last reported quarter, it beat earnings expectations by 0.61%.

Per our proven model, AbbVie is likely to report an earnings beat, as it currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and a Zacks Rank #3.  You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here


.

Strong demand for immunology drugs, aesthetics and cosmetics products is expected to have

driven

sales in the first quarter of 2022. Moreover, new drug launches in the past few quarters are likely to have brought additional sales during the first quarter.

AstraZeneca

The earnings surprise history has been good so far for AstraZeneca. It surpassed expectations in two of the trailing four quarters and missed in one, delivering an earnings surprise of 2.22%, on average. In the last reported quarter, AstraZeneca pulled off an earnings surprise of 9.09%.

AstraZeneca, too, is likely to report an earnings beat, as it currently has an Earnings ESP of +2.56% and Zacks Rank #3.

AstraZeneca’s newer drugs, mainly cancer medicines, Lynparza, Tagrisso and Imfinzi are likely to have driven revenues in the first quarter. Contribution from its COVID-19 vaccine might have boosted revenues further. Cost-cutting efforts are expected to have aided earnings.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the

Zacks Earnings Calendar

.

.

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