Allergan Inc. shares surged 6% in midday trading today after the drug maker posted a quarterly profit outpacing Wall Street’s expectations.
The Irvine-based company also raised the lower end of its guidance on full-year earnings in reporting the second-quarter financial results. The maker of Botox said that it now expects 2012 profit of $1.279 billion to $1.291 billion, up from an earlier forecast of $1.273 billion to $1.291 billion.
Wall Street projects Allergan’s full year profit at $1.285 billion.
Allergan said it expects to post a third-quarter profit of $320.5 million to $326.7 million. Analysts on average forecast $329.8 million in profit for the current quarter.
Allergan said its second-quarter profit excluding one-time charges was $330 million, 11% higher than a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected a $326.7 million profit in the quarter.
Net income grew 19% to $296 million.
Second-quarter revenue came in at $1.47 billion, up 5% from a year earlier and just below Wall Street’s $1.5 billion consensus forecast. The company said that sales would have been up almost 9% if not for foreign-exchange rate changes.
Botox sales grew 10% to $461 million in the quarter. Allergan said it also saw sales gains in all its other categories with the exception of the Lap-Band.
Sales of Lap-Band, which is used to aid in weight loss, fell 24% to $41 million.
