Merck sales forecast underwhelms as it pauses some shipments to China

The drugmaker plans to temporarily pause shipments of its Gardasil vaccine to China through at least the middle of the year.

Merck gave no explanation in its fourth-quarter earnings report for the pause, but sales of Gardasil fell 17% to $1.55 billion (approx. €1.47bn) in the final quarter of last year, mainly due to a continued trend of lower demand in China.

Gardasil vaccine protects against cancer-causing human papilloma virus or HPV infections. The pause announcement comes a month after Merck received approval in China for use of the vaccine in males.

For 2025 Merck, based in Rahway, New Jersey, expects adjusted earnings to range between $8.88 and $9.03 per share on $64.1 billion to $65.6 billion in sales.

Analysts had been projecting earnings of $9.13 per share on $67.07 billion in sales, according to FactSet.

For the recently completed fourth quarter, Merck booked an adjusted profit of $1.72 per share on $15.6 billion in revenue. Sales of top-selling cancer treatment Keytruda climbed 19% to $7.84 billion.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.61 per share on $15.48 billion in revenue.

Shares of Merck & Co. Inc. dropped 8%, or $8.18, to $91.61 Tuesday in pre-market trading.