Higher sales, lower taxes help Amgen beat views

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- A 13% increase in sales and a lower tax rate helped Amgen Inc. [s:amgn] to better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter, the company said Tuesday. Announcing earnings after the close, the Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based biotechnology firm said net income for the period was $1.02 billion, or $1.33 a share, compared with $788 million, or $1.01 a share, for the same period a year ago. Sales were $5.01 billion against last year s $4.42 billion. Adjusted earnings were $1.82 a share, beating a forecast from analysts polled by FactSet of $1.70 a share. Sales were expected to reach $4.81 billion. Amgen officials said sales were up across the board for its product lines, with double-digit quarterly increases for all but a handful of its drugs. The company also said it was helped by lower tax rates.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.