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British pharmaceuticals company
GSK
(ticker GSK) raised its outlook for the second time this year, pushing shares higher in early trading Wednesday.
The company said that annual turnover will increase by 12% to 13%, compared with previous guidance of 8% to 10%. It expects adjusted operating profit to increase between 13% and 15%, up from prior guidance of 11% to 13%.
GSK has been lifted by sales of its recently launched Arexvy vaccine that prevents a common respiratory disease. Arexvy’s third-quarter sales were £709 million, easily beating analysts’ expectations. Operating profit increased 15% in the third quarter from a year earlier, though the gains were offset by research investment, new product launches and lower Covid-19 medicine sales.
“Our excellent execution supports an upgrade to our full-year 2023 guidance and we have clear momentum as we look ahead to deliver our 2026 outlooks,” said Emma Walmsley, the chief executive officer.
GSK’s London-traded shares were up 1.6%. Its American depositary receipts traded 0.3% higher in the premarket.
This is a breaking news story. Below is a preview published before the results.
The U.K. drugmaker
GSK
reports earnings Wednesday, in the midst of what’s been a perilous season for pharmaceutical results.
Shares of
Bristol Myers Squibb
(BMY),
AbbVie
(ABBV),
Sanofi
(SNY), and
Amgen
(AMGN) all fell following their financial results this earnings season. On Wednesday, it’s GSK’s (GSK) turn to face the market reaction after the company reports earnings.
GSK’s American depositary receipt has outperformed many of its pharma peers so far this year. Putting aside
Eli Lilly
(LLY) and
Novo Nordisk
(NVO)—whose new anti-obesity medicines have driven dramatic spikes in their share prices—GSK is among the best performers of the group. The GSK American depositary receipt is up roughly 1% so far this year, while the S&P 500 Pharmaceuticals industry index has fallen 7%.
Analysts expect GSK to report earnings of £0.46 per share for the quarter on sales of £7.7 billion ($9.4 billion) on Wednesday morning, according to FactSet.
GSK will for the first time report sales of Arexvy, its new respiratory syncytial virus vaccine that launched this fall. The company expects the drug to grow into a megablockbuster. It competes with a similar shot from
Pfizer,
which also launched this year.
Pfizer said Tuesday it had sold $375 million worth of its RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, during the third quarter. Reuters reported Monday that two thirds of the RSV shots administered in the U.S. this season were GSK’s Arexvy.
In late October, GSK said it would seek expanded regulatory approval for Arexvy for adults aged 50 to 59, based on data from a new Phase 3 study. The shot is currently approved for adults aged 60 and above.
GSK’s American depositary receipt trades at 9.3 times earnings expected over the next 12 months, below its 5-year average of 12.7 times earnings.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
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