Nexplanon maker Organon offered a light 2022 sales outlook on Thursday, but OGN stock recovered from an early dip following the company's fourth-quarter beat.
The light guidance follows strong sales of Organon's Nexplanon, an implantable contraceptive, offset by declining sales of established drugs. The established drugs come from Merck, which spun its women's health, biosimilars and older meds into Organon last year.
This year, Organon expects $6.1 billion to $6.4 billion in sales. The midpoint missed analysts' call for $6.33 billion. Sales would also fall roughly 2% year over year. FactSet-polled OGN stock analysts also expected adjusted profit of $5.73 a share.
Shares fell in early action, but OGN stock pared those losses and climbed a fraction to close at 36.37 on today's stock market.
OGN Stock: Older Drugs Decline
During the quarter, adjusted Organon earnings sank 30% to $1.37 per share. But that beat analysts' forecast for $1.24 a share. Sales also dipped 1% to $1.6 billion but topped views for $1.57 billion.
The strongest growth came from biosimilars, low-cost versions of biologic drugs. Sales popped 15% to $118 million. Organon cited continued growth from Renflexis in the U.S. and growing biosimilar popularity in Canada. Renflexis is a copycat of Johnson & Johnson's Remicade, a treatment for inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Sales of women's health products — like Nexplanon — jumped 6% to $415 million. Nexplanon sales surged 37% excluding the impact of exchange rates. But that was partially offset by a decline from another contraceptive, Nuvaring. Organon recently bought the rights to a contraceptive pill in China from Bayer.
Meanwhile, the established drugs division generated $1.04 billion, falling 2%. It includes well-known drugs that no longer have patent protection, like cholesterol med Zetia.
OGN stock is currently forming a cup base with a buy point at 37.47, according to MarketSmith.com.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
