Investors and analysts are so used to bad news from Biogen (BIIB) that they seemingly didn’t know how to react when the biotech giant delivered more upbeat—or at least less downbeat—first-quarter results than expected.
Biogen finished the first quarter with net income of $393.4 million, up 1.4% from $387.9 million in Q1 2023, despite a 7% drop in revenue to $2.291 billion from $2.464 billion a year ago. The company’s GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) rose year-over-year, albeit by just 1%, to $2.70 from $2.67 (non-GAAP EPS, which excludes nonrecurring items, rose 8%, from $3.40 to $3.67).