PREVIEW: Amgen dips ahead of Q3 earnings

** Shares of Amgen Inc AMGN.O down 0.5% to $463.33 ahead of Q3 earnings due after the closing bell, with focus on sales of its key growth drugs and updates on its pipeline

** The biotech co is expected to report qtrly rev up 5% to $10.07 bln and adj EPS of $5.79, up from $5.64 a yr ago, per LSEG

** AMGN has met or beaten EPS for at least 8 straight qtrs, with most recent revenue miss in Q3 2024

** Investors will watch for an update on its experimental obesity drug MariTide and sales momentum for its cancer drug Imdelltra, which recently showed strong trial data

** Of the 36 analysts covering AMGN, the breakdown of recommendations is 13 "strong buy" or "buy," 19 "hold" and 4 "sell" or "strong sell" ratings

** Median price target of $407.50 is up from $400 a month ago and $360 on August 3

** AMGN shares up ~42% YTD vs ~8% rise in Dow Industrials .DJI

** AMGN options imply a 4.3% swing for the shares, in either direction, by Fri, per data from options analytics service Mercury Alerts