Jim Cramer Blog

Drug developer Merck & Co. said Monday its second-quarter profit jumped nearly 12 percent on an across-the-board rise in drug sales, and the company boosted earnings guidance for the year.

However, it took another charge to cover costs of its massive Vioxx litigation.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck earned $1.68 billion, or 77 cents per share, compared with a net income of $1.5 billion, or 69 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue rose 6 percent to $6.11 billion from $5.77 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 72 cents per share on revenue of $5.77 billion.

Labels: Merck and Co. Inc., MRK