CSL shares jump 18% as annual profit beats forecasts, buyback announced
CSL's underlying profit beat estimates, shares surged 18%, and a A$1.1 billion buyback was announced.
Shares of Australian biotechnology major CSL soared 18% on Tuesday, their sharpest intraday gain in over two decades, after the company reported better-than-expected annual underlying earnings and issued a stronger-than-anticipated outlook for its core plasma division.
The company posted an underlying net profit after tax of $3.14 billion on a constant-currency basis, surpassing the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. CSL, one of the world's largest flu vaccine makers, also forecast underlying earnings growth of roughly 5% for fiscal 2027, a figure well above market projections of just 0.7%.
The positive reaction was driven by several factors, including the maintained final dividend of $1.62 per share and the announcement of a A$1.1 billion share buyback programme. The company's plasma therapies unit, CSL Behring, is expected to see mid-single-digit revenue growth in the coming financial year, reversing a 1% decline in 2026, on the back of rising demand for immunoglobulin therapies and productivity improvements.
"The market is focusing on three positives: the maintained dividend, the fresh share buyback plan, and the clearer forward guidance," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. "After a year of guidance cuts, management changes, and heavy impairments, the market is treating the result as confirmation that the worst of the reset is behind the company."
Despite the upbeat underlying performance, CSL reported a statutory net loss of $2.6 billion, its first since listing in 1994, dragged down by pre-tax impairments of $5.5 billion and restructuring costs of $799 million. The loss marks a sharp reversal from the $3 billion profit recorded in the prior year.