Biosimilar Pipeline And Global Expansion Will Unlock Future Opportunities

Key Takeaways

• Accelerated biosimilar launches, improved manufacturing, and strong market share are driving margin expansion and long-term profitability.
  
• Strategic focus on international growth and a robust product pipeline positions the company for sustainable earnings momentum.
  
• Heavy reliance on competitive pricing, external partnerships, and limited US success exposes Sandoz to margin pressure, geographic risks, rising costs, and intense competition in key treatments.

Catalysts

Develops, manufactures, and markets generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars worldwide.

• Accelerating biosimilar launches in large chronic disease indications (e.g., autoimmunity, osteoporosis) position Sandoz to capitalize on sustained global demand for affordable biologics and a growing aging population, supporting robust long-term revenue growth.
  
• Regulatory streamlining and investments in advanced in-house manufacturing (notably Slovenia expansion and Just-Evotec acquisition) are expected to lower production costs and speed up time-to-market for new biosimilars, driving margin expansion and higher net earnings.
  
• Strong commercial execution and leading market share in biosimilars-now 30%+ of net sales and growing-improves Sandoz's revenue mix towards higher-margin products, supporting overall profitability and long-term earnings leverage.
  
• Expansion into emerging markets and ongoing momentum in international and European sales allow Sandoz to access new patient populations as healthcare access grows globally, underpinning future revenue and volume growth.
  
• The company's substantial pipeline (27 biosimilars and 400+ generics targeting ~$420 billion in originator sales) and strategic independence post-spin-off enable focused capital allocation and agile R&D, which is likely to drive sustainable double-digit earnings growth for several years.

Sandoz Group Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Sandoz Group's revenue will grow by 6.3% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 2.1% today to 13.1% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $1.7 billion (and earnings per share of $3.84) by about September 2028, up from $227.0 million today. However, there is some disagreement amongst the analysts with the more bearish ones expecting earnings as low as $1.1 billion.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 17.9x on those 2028 earnings, down from 117.1x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the CH Pharmaceuticals industry at 30.9x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 0.3% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 3.82%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Sandoz Group Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Ongoing price erosion in both biosimilars and generics, as highlighted in multiple comments on competitive pricing and the need for stepwise margin improvements, poses a risk to sustained revenue growth and may continue to pressure gross profit margins and net earnings.
  
• Revenue dependence on Europe and ex-US markets has increased due to softer than expected US biosimilar performance, which, alongside regional exposure to tariffs (e.g., new US/EU import duties), raises risks of geographic concentration and potential earnings volatility.
  
• The company's ambitious biosimilars and generics pipeline relies significantly on partnerships and in-licensed products rather than fully in-house development, potentially leading to lower long-term profit margins and less control over revenue, as management acknowledged the higher accretiveness of in-house assets.
  
• Intensifying competition in biosimilars and generics-especially from lower-cost manufacturers and new market entrants in the US-threatens Sandoz's market share and could accelerate price deterioration in key launches like Wyost, Jubbonti, and Hyrimoz, negatively impacting future revenues and profitability.
  
• Regulatory, operational, and integration risks stemming from rapid manufacturing expansions, acquisitions (e.g., Just-Evotec), and ongoing post-spin transformation (including one-off costs and IT disentanglement), could raise compliance and execution costs, reducing free cash flow and slowing normalization of net margin improvements.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of CHF49.39 for Sandoz Group based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of CHF60.37, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just CHF38.02.
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $12.7 billion, earnings will come to $1.7 billion, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 17.9x, assuming you use a discount rate of 3.8%.
• Given the current share price of CHF49.66, the analyst price target of CHF49.39 is 0.5% lower. The relatively low difference between the current share price and the analyst consensus price target indicates that they believe on average, the company is fairly priced.
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.