Amgen Inc. (AMGN), headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics. With a market cap of $156.1 billion, the company focuses on human therapeutics and concentrates on innovating novel medicines based on cellular and molecular biology.

Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and AMGN perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the general drug manufacturers industry. AMGN has a diverse and innovative product portfolio, including blockbuster drugs like Prolia, ENBREL, and XGEVA. Amgen's robust pipeline features potential first-in-class medicines. With operations worldwide, Amgen has established a strong market presence and international sales growth, diversifying revenue and mitigating market-specific risks. 

Despite its notable strength, AMGN slipped 16.3% from its 52-week high of $346.85, achieved on Jul. 25, 2024. Over the past three months, AMGN stock declined 8.7%, underperforming the Invesco Pharmaceuticals ETF’s (PJP) 5.1% decline during the same time frame.

In the longer term, shares of AMGN rose 11.4% on a YTD basis, outperforming PJP’s YTD losses of 1.3%. However, the stock fell 5% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming PJP’s marginal returns over the last year.

To confirm the bullish trend, AMGN has been trading above its 50-day moving average since late May. However, the stock is trading below its 200-day moving average since mid-November, 2024, with some fluctuations. 

AMGN's underperformance can be attributed to weakness in key brands like Otezla and Lumakras, leading to potential revenue headwinds. Increased pricing pressures and competitive forces are impacting sales across multiple products. The best-selling drugs, Prolia and Xgeva, are expected to face declining sales in the second half of 2025 due to biosimilar competition.

On May 1, AMGN shares closed down more than 2% after reporting its Q1 results. Its adjusted EPS of $4.90 topped Wall Street expectations of $4.16. The company’s revenue was $8.1 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts of $8 billion. AMGN expects full-year adjusted EPS in the range of $20 to $21.20, and expects revenue in the range of $34.3 billion to $35.7 billion.

In the competitive arena of general drug manufacturers, Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) has lagged behind AMGN, showing resilience with a marginal loss on a YTD basis and an 8.1% downtick over the past 52 weeks. 

Wall Street analysts are moderately bullish on AMGN’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from the 32 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $316.89 suggests a potential upside of 9.1% from current price levels.