Leerink Partners analyst Howard Liang reiterated an Outperform rating and boosted estimates and his price target on Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) to $187.00 (from $177.00) following strong results.

Liang commented, "AMGN reported a strong first quarter last night, with a broad range of products contributing to a ~$117M sales beat vs. consensus and approximately twice this number in lower-than-expected operating expenses, leading to a sizable bottom-line beat of 38c vs. consensus in 1Q. Although management noted the seasonally light 1Q in expenses and guided to an increase in the remainder of the year in-line to slightly above historical trends due in part to product launches (Corlanor, Repatha, and potentially T-VEC), there appears to be a clear benefit from management's cost containment initiatives ("transformation"). Pipeline disclosures on the call include advancing the T-VEC/Keytruda combination directly to Phase III instead of a previously planned Phase II, and the Phase I/III program includes both melanoma and head and neck cancer, making it one of the first combinations with an antagonist of the PD-1 axis in Phase III after PD-1/Yervoy combinations. Additionally, timing of regulatory filings for brodalumab (psoriasis, partnered with AZN [MP]) and AMG 416 (secondary hyperparathyroidism) was announced (in mid-2015 and 2H:15, respectively), although management noted that the regulators had taken an interest in the suicidal idealization signal for brodalumab. 2015 continues to shape up to be an important year for AMGN due to upcoming launches as well as an initial understanding of the upcoming competition from Neupogen and Neulasta biosimilars."

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Shares of Amgen closed at $168.46 yesterday.