Novartis 1st-qtr sales beat expectations, boosted by cancer and heart drugs

19 April 2018

Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) saw its share price down 1.65% at 77.50 Swiss francs within two hours of posting first-quarter 2018 financial results that exceeded expectations on sales.

Net sales for the quarter were $12.7 billion (+10%, +4% cc) in the first quarter, beating forecasts of $12.3 billion from analysts polled by Reuters, as volume growth of 9 percentage points (cc), including growth from Cosentyx (secukinumab) andEntresto (sacubitril plus valsartan), was partly offset by the negative impacts of pricing (-3 percentage points) and generic competition (-2 percentage points).

Core net income was $2.98 billion (+11%, +4% cc) driven by growth in core operating income, equaling analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll. Core earnings per share (EPS) were $1.28 (+13%, +6% cc), driven by growth in core net income and the lower number of shares outstanding.

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