PREVIEW: Merck seen reporting Q2 EPS drop yr/yr, rev increase

Merck & Co MRK.N shares off ~0.6% on Mon ahead of Q2 financial report due before market open on Tues

Wall Street on average expects Q2 adj EPS of $2.01 vs $2.28 in Q2 2024 on rev of $15.89 bln vs $ 16.11 bln in year-ago qtr, according to latest estimates gathered by LSEG

In last 8 qtrs, MRK EPS and rev beat expectations every time

Merck in Apr reported Q1 adj profit increase of 7% as lower costs helped offset a 2% decline in sales, reflecting a Jan decision to pause shipments of its Gardasil vaccine to China amid demand downturn

MRK last traded at $84.25 vs median PT of $100, as per LSEG, which shows 27 analyst ratings: 6 'strong buy,' 10 'buy' and 11 'hold'

YTD, shares down 15.3% vs decline of 1.9% for S&P 500 healthcare index .SPXHC and 5.2% gain for Dow Industrials .DJI

MRK options imply a 4.9% swing for the shares, in either direction by Fri, per Trade Alert data; the stock has logged an avg move of 4.2% on the day of results over the last eight qtrs