Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $781 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with earnings of $908 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding items, EPS increased to 88 cents from 83 cents during the same period a year earlier, while revenue fell 3.4 percent to $11.32 billion.
The company forecast 2014 EPS of $3.35 to $3.53 and revenue between $42.4 billion to $43.2 billion, compared with Wall Street expectations for EPS of $3.48 on revenue of $43.35 billion, according to analysts polled by Reuters.
On Wednesday, shares of Merck rose 1.98 percent to $54.57.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 52.45 points, or 0.34 percent, at 15,392.79. The S&P 500 Index was down 12.45 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,742.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 47.11 points, or 1.17 percent, at 3,985.77.
