Merck's Q3 2010 Earnings Call: Also This Friday, Pre-Market Open

As we mentioned two weeks ago, New Merck reports results Friday. Here is what that might look like:

. . . .[Merck] is seen reporting earnings of 82 cents and $11.24 billion in revenue. A year earlier, the company earned $1.61 a share, or 90 cents minus items like a gain from the sale of its stake in an animal-health joint venture, as revenue was $6.05 billion.

Key Issues: Merck's results will once again be boosted by last fall's acquisition of Schering-Plough. Sales of its key drugs, which had been a strong point in recent quarters, tailed off slightly in the spring, so investors will be looking at whether they rebounded during the summer. The company has also seen pricing pressure in Europe, where national health programs have been cutting prices to help close budget gaps. . . .

All not mentioned, in the Fox Biz(!) pull quote above: (i) whether a settlement will be announced on the J&J arbitration; or (ii) a settlement in these latest ONJ cases (Boles II/III, and/or Graves); or (iii) an update on when the US Hart-Scott-Rodino (Antitrust) and ECC filings might be made on the New Merial venture transactions, with Sanofi -- leading to a more precise estimate of the timing for those divestitures (likely to aggregate north of $1 billion), and any possible final approval of the deal. In any event, I'll live-blog it all.