Merck KGaA stock slips after earnings miss estimates

14 May 2019

Germany’s Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) saw its stocks dented on Tuesday after announcing its first-quarter 2019 financial results.

Net sales for the quarter were 3.75 billion euros ($4.2 billion) – a 7.5% rise on the same period in 2018 – across the group. The growth was driven by increases in all three business units, which are focused on healthcare, life science and performance materials.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) dropped by 4% to 929 million, below the average analyst estimate of 944 million euros in a Reuters poll. Merck blamed this on the absence of positive one-time effects from the previous year.

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