EARNINGS ROUNDUP

Biotechnology company Amgen Inc. said lower costs in its research and sales units boosted third-quarter profit 24%, despite a continued downturn in anemia drug sales.

The Thousand Oaks company also lifted its full-year profit outlook, but shares dropped in after-hours trading on news that additional study results would be needed to gain approval of the experimental drug Prolia as a treatment for cancer therapy-induced osteoporosis. The company also needs additional studies to gain approval for the drug as a preventive treatment.

Shares fell $2.15, or 3.6%, to $57.25 in after-hours trading, after gaining $1.26 to close at $59.40.

Profit rose to $1.39 billion, or $1.36 a share, from $1.12 billion, or $1.05, a year earlier. Revenue fell 2% to $3.8 billion as sales of the anemia drug Aranesp continued to slide.

Excluding charges, the company says profit rose to $1.49 a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast $1.27 in profit on $3.79 billion in revenue.

The positive results prompted a boost in full-year profit guidance to $4.90 to $5.05 a share, up from a prior range of $4.80 to $4.95 a share. Amgen now expects revenue in 2009 to be closer to the top end of its forecast of $14.4 billion to $14.8 billion. Analysts expect profit of $4.88 a share on revenue of $14.7 billion.