Amgen's (NASDAQ:AMGN) Problems Go Beyond Weak Profit

A lackluster earnings announcement from Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) last week didn't sink the stock price. However, we believe that investors should be aware of some underlying factors which may be of concern.

Check out our latest analysis for Amgen

How Do Unusual Items Influence Profit?

For anyone who wants to understand Amgen's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from US$1.1b worth of unusual items. We can't deny that higher profits generally leave us optimistic, but we'd prefer it if the profit were to be sustainable. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. And that's as you'd expect, given these boosts are described as 'unusual'. If Amgen doesn't see that contribution repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to drop over the current year.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Amgen's Profit Performance

We'd posit that Amgen's statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Therefore, it seems possible to us that Amgen's true underlying earnings power is actually less than its statutory profit. In further bad news, its earnings per share decreased in the last year. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. So if you'd like to dive deeper into this stock, it's crucial to consider any risks it's facing. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (1 is potentially serious!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Amgen.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Amgen's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.