Pharmaceutical giant Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) stepped into the earnings spotlight today, and it is reaping the rewards of a positive report. SGP posted fourth-quarter earnings of $480 million, or 27 cents per share; but adjusted earnings came in at $633 million, or 39 cents per share. This beat fourth quarter results of a year ago, when the company lost $2.08 per. Today's announcement also handily trounced the Street's expectations of 30 cents per share for the quarter, per analysts' estimates.
Quarterly sales increased 17% to $4.3 billion compared to a year ago. These strong sales results include a 6% charge thanks to unfavorable foreign-exchange impact and the inclusion of net sales from Organon BioSciences, which SGP acquired in November 2007.
Other pharmaceutical firms are hitching on to SGP's bandwagon today, as Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is nearly 4% higher and Dow component Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is more than 1.5% higher.
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