Sanofi beat forecasts in the third quarter and raised its outlook again. Net sales rose 14.3 percent at constant exchange rates to 14,444 million euros, up 16.2 percent as reported, and business earnings per share rose 19.6 percent at constant rates to 3.55 euros. Business operating income was 5.43 billion euros, against market expectations of 4.32 billion euros in Reuters reporting, helped by product mix and pricing after discounts, and the shares rose nearly 6 percent to their highest since April.
Dupixent did most of the work. Sales of the Regeneron partnered immunology drug rose 34.8 percent to 5,687 million euros, above 5 billion euros for a second consecutive quarter, and accounted for 39 percent of group sales in the quarter. Pharmaceutical launches, led by Altuviiio, Ayvakit and Rezurock, rose 31.4 percent to 1,390 million euros. Vaccines were the weak line, down 6.6 percent to 3,185 million euros on flu delivery timing and lower Beyfortus sales in the United States, though still ahead of analyst forecasts cited by BioSpace.
Full year 2026 guidance was upgraded: sales are now expected to grow by a low teens percentage at constant exchange rates, from about 10 percent previously, and business earnings per share by a mid teens percentage, from slightly faster than sales previously. Chief executive Belen Garijo, who took over in May, said the company is focused on growth beyond the Dupixent loss of exclusivity and on later stage and commercial assets that can use Sanofi commercial capabilities sooner.
Management was explicit about how it intends to fill the gap. Finance chief Francois Roger said Sanofi is increasingly interested in late stage medicines and marketed products, would consider acquisitions larger than its usual 2 billion to 5 billion dollar range, and is also looking at what he called white spaces and moonshots in unmet medical need, while staying in immunology, rare diseases and vaccines. Analysts estimate about 20 billion euros of deal capacity, according to Reuters. Roger said there are no plans for major restructuring, framing the task as returns on investment rather than cost cutting.
The concentration is the risk in the print. Dupixent United States composition of matter patent protection runs to 2031, the company targets 25 billion euros of Dupixent sales by 2030, and the newer launch portfolio, at 1.4 billion euros in the quarter, is not yet at a scale to replace it. Earlier this month Sanofi expanded its Regeneron partnership in a deal worth up to 8 billion dollars for four new immunology programs. The next test is execution: whether the larger deal appetite produces revenue bearing assets before the 2027 late stage readout wave and the early 2030s cliff.