Celgene Corp. (CELG) raised its earnings outlook for the
recently ended year and boosted its long-term growth targets, but
the biotechnology company also provided earnings guidance for 2014
below analysts' expectations.
The company has continued to post improved revenue in recent
quarters, with Revlimid, its flagship blood-cancer treatment,
grabbing more market share. Celgene has pursued an aggressive
growth strategy, spending heavily to purchase and develop new
drugs, which the company has said will help it double sales by
2017.
Celgene has been known to offer cautious initial forecasts and
repeatedly raise its targets.
For 2013, Celgene now expects a per-share adjusted profit of
roughly $5.96 on net product sales of $6.4 billion. The company
previously had expected per-share adjusted earnings of $5.95
billion and net product sales of more than $6.2 billion.
For 2014, Celgene forecast adjusted per-share earnings of $7 to
$7.20 on total revenue of $7.5 billion, while analysts polled by
Thomson Reuters recently expected an adjusted per-share profit of
$7.29 a share and revenue of $7.44 billion.
The company also raised its long-term sales target for 2017 to
between $13 billion to $14 billion, from its former estimate of $12
billion.
Celgene plans to release its fourth-quarter and 2013 financial
results on Jan. 30.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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