UCB SA First‑Half Results and Updated Full‑Year Guidance
UCB SA announced first‑half 2026 revenue of €4,270 million, which is 3.8% above the company consensus estimate of €4,112 million. Adjusted EBITDA was 25.3% ahead of consensus, and the adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 40.7%, well above the consensus margin of 33.7%. The margin improvement was attributed to a favourable product mix, lower research and development expenses, and a stronger‑than‑expected contribution from the drug Evenity.
Product‑level performance showed that Cimzia generated €954 million, 6.2% above consensus, driven by strong rest‑of‑world sales. Briviact delivered €327 million, 28.7% ahead of expectations. The key growth driver Bimzelx posted €1,528 million, 0.5% below consensus, while other products such as Vimpat, Rystiggo and Zilbrysq fell short of forecasts.
Despite the revenue beat, UCB’s shares fell approximately 11% (reported as a 10.6% decline) on Thursday, as investors expressed concern over the mixed product performance and the modest outlook for Bimzelx.
UCB raised its full‑year guidance, now targeting revenue growth of low‑teens to mid‑teens% at constant exchange rates, up from the prior range of high‑single‑digit to low‑double‑digit%. Adjusted EBITDA growth guidance was lifted to mid‑teens to low‑twenties%, versus the earlier high‑single‑digit to mid‑teens% range. The midpoint of the updated guidance translates to €8,648 million in revenue and €2,936 million in adjusted EBITDA, representing 1.0% and 1.2% increases respectively over the company’s consensus forecasts.
The company also increased its peak‑sales target for Bimzelx to more than €7 billion, up from more than €4 billion, though this remains below analyst estimates of €8.1 billion.