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On Tuesday night after the US market closed Amgen reported their latest results. Revenue for the quarter was $6.2 billion, in-line with expectations, and profits of $4.25 per share were ahead of the expectations of $3.84.
Amgen is one of the few companies that reported better numbers this year than they did last year thanks to their portfolio of leading drugs. Management did note that the Covid lockdown did result in some headwinds for the company. With fewer people visiting doctors for non-Covid related issues, it means that fewer cases of cancer and heart disease were detected. Not good news for the patients or Amgen who can't sell drugs if people don't know they need them.
The reason that we chose Amgen in the biotech industry is due to its diverse portfolio, making the profit stream more stable. A significant boost to future profits comes from Amgen's Enbrel patent victory, which Paul wrote about earlier this month. Looking ahead, the company has three exciting drugs in the pipeline. One is for lung cancer, another for asthma and one to treat heart failure.
Amgen is one of those anchor positions in your portfolio, where it steadily grows over time and pays a very healthy dividend. Its dividend of 2.5% is massive compared to the 0% that you can get in the bank at the moment. The stock can seem boring when compared to the likes of Amazon or Tesla, but that is okay. Having a few 'boring' stocks in your portfolio adds some nice balance.
