Earnings Preview: Wyeth

Wyeth (WYE) is expected to report Q2 earnings before market open Wednesday, July 23, with a conference call scheduled for 8:00 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 87c on revenue of $5.69B. The consensus range is 83c to 91c for EPS, and revenue of $5.49B to $5.81B, according to First Call. For Q1, Wyeth reported EPS 94c vs. consensus of 90c and revenue $5.71B vs. consensus of $5.50B.

Analyst Views

Possible positive drivers include strength in Effexor and Enbrel sales and a relatively strong pipeline. Possible negative drivers for this quarter could be the growing competition of generics. Teva (TEVA) launched a generic version of Wyeth's heartburn drug, Protonix.

On June 25, Wyeth was initiated with a Neutral from JP Morgan. On July 8, Caris downgraded the shares to Average from Above Average. Caris downgraded shares after lowering sales expectations for bapineuzumab and believes the stock has become expensive relative to peers. The firm's price target remains $48.