Sanofi Misses on Q4 Earnings & Sales, Expects Higher Profits in 2025

Sanofi SNY reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of 70 cents per American depositary share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents per share. Earnings of €1.31 per share declined 14.9% on a reported basis and 11% on a constant currency rate (“CER”) basis.Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.Net sales rose 9.1% on a reported basis to $11.27 billion (€10.56 billion). Exchange rate movements hurt sales by 1.2% in the quarter. Sales rose 10.3% on a CER basis. Sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.39 billion.Sales rose 13.3% at CER in the United States, 8.8% in the Rest of the World (including China, Japan, Brazil and Russia) and 6.0% in Europe.All growth rates mentioned below are on a year-on-year basis and at CER.Dupixent Continues to Drive SNY’s Top LineIn Immunology, Dupixent generated sales of €3.46 billion in the quarter, up 16.0% year over year. Dupixent sales missed our model estimate of €3.58 billion.Sales of the drug in the United States rose 10.4%, driven by strong demand in its approved indications — atopic dermatitis, asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis, eosinophilic esophagitis and prurigo nodularis. However, fewer business days in the fourth quarter and a year-end gross-to-net adjustment hurt sales slightly.Dupixent sales rose 30.4% in Europe and 38.1% in the Rest of the World, driven mainly by sales in Japan. Dupixent was approved for its sixth indication — chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — in Europe in July and in the United States in September 2024. Sanofi said that the launch for the COPD indication has been initiated in the United States and is expected to pick up momentum in 2025. In Europe, sales benefited from initial sales in COPD in Germany.Sanofi markets Dupixent in partnership with Regeneron REGN. While sales are recorded by Sanofi, Regeneron records its share of profits/losses in connection with global sales of Dupixent.SNY’s Rare Disease Drugs’ PerformanceAmong Sanofi’s rare disease drugs, its new rare blood disorder drug, Altuviiio, a once-weekly new class of factor VIII therapy for hemophilia A, recorded sales of €230 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with €172 million in the previous quarter, mainly driven by patient switches in the U.S. hemophilia A market. More than 85% of Altuviiio’s sales were in the United States.New drug, Nexviazyme/Nexviadzyme recorded sales of €184 million, up 42.0% year over year. While sales were strong in Europe and the Rest of the World segments, growth slowed down in the United States as a high rate of conversion from Myozyme/Lumizyme has already been achieved.Xenpozyme recorded sales of €38 million in the quarter, up 50% year over year.Among the rare disease drugs in the Pompe franchise, Myozyme sales declined 17% year over year to €132 million due to patients switching to Nexviazyme. Fabrazyme sales were €269 million, up 12.4% year over year. In the Gaucher franchise, Cerezyme sales rose 33.8% year over year to €171 million.Cablivi recorded sales of €73 million, up 24.1% year over year, driven by patient growth in the United States and launches in Europe and Rest of World,Among the rare blood disorder drugs, Eloctate sales declined 21.4% to €81 million in the quarter due to patients switching to the new drug Altuviiio in the United States.SNY’s Neurology, Oncology & Other DrugsIn neurology medicines, Aubagio sales declined 35.5% year over year to €78 million due to generic competition.In Oncology, Sarclisa sales rose 30.1% year over year to €130 million.In Others, Toujeo recorded sales of €290 million, up 6.5% year over year. Lantus sales rose 63.4% to €439.0 million.SNY & AZN’s Beyfortus Drives Vaccine SalesTotal vaccine sales increased 10.8% to €2.2 billion, driven by Beyfortus sales in Europe.Sales of flu vaccines declined 36.8% year over year to €454 million due to early deliveries in the third quarter. Sales of PPH vaccines rose 10.8% year over year to €632 million due to higher demand of booster vaccines in some countries. Sales of meningitis, travel and other endemic vaccines declined 4.2% year over year to €249 million in the quarter due to unfavorable U.S. government buying patterns.Sanofi and partner AstraZeneca’s AZN RSV antibody Beyfortus (nirsevimab) recorded sales of €841 million in the fourth quarter, up 107% year over year, driven by higher sales in the United States and successful rollout in several countries in Europe. Sanofi got license approval for two additional filling lines for Beyfortus production, which improved the vaccine’s supply and contributed to sales growth in the fourth quarter.AstraZeneca-partnered Beyfortus was launched in the United States and Europe for preventing RSV-related lower respiratory tract disease in newborns and infants in 2023.Performance of SNY’s Opella UnitSanofi has plans to separate its Consumer Healthcare [“CHC”] unit through the creation of a publicly listed entity headquartered in Paris called Opella. Sanofi intends to sell a controlling stake in Opella to a private equity firm, CD&R and will retain 48% ownership in the company. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2025.The Opella standalone unit generated sales of €1.20 billion in the fourth quarter, up 8%, supported by the Wellness category.SNY Expects Higher Profits in 2025Sanofi issued a fresh guidance for 2025. It expects its sales to rise by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage at CER.Sanofi also announced a €5 billion ($5.2 billion) buyback program for 2025.In 2025, Sanofi expects its business EPS (at CER) to increase at a low double-digit percentage at CER, before stock buyback.Our Take on SNY’s Q4 ResultsSanofi’s quarterly results were tepid as it missed estimates for both earnings and sales in the fourth quarter. Higher sales of Dupixent and contributions from new products like Altuviiio, and Beyfortus were partially offset by lower sales of flu vaccines and Aubagio due to generic competition. Sales of its newly launched drugs rose 56.5% in the quarter, comprising 8% of total sales.Sanofi met most of its targets set for 2024. Though Dupixent sales were slightly below estimates in the fourth quarter, its full-year revenues totaled €13.07 billion, slightly exceeding the target of around €13 billion at CER. Sanofi expects Dupixent to achieve around €22 billion in sales in 2030.Its adjusted earnings per share rose 4.1% at CER in 2024, in line with expectation of rising by a low single-digit percentage in 2024. Beyfortus became a blockbuster product in its first full year of sales, as expected.Despite the fourth-quarter miss, Sanofi’s shares were up almost 3% in pre-market trading on Thursday. The company’s sales and earnings growth outlook for 2025 seems quite optimistic, with expectations of higher profit growth. This, coupled with the buyback announcement, seems to have impressed investors, overshadowing the earnings miss.Sanofi’s stock has risen 4.5% in the past year against the industry’s decline of 1.2%.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchSanofi expects earnings to rebound strongly in 2025 with an expectation of a low double-digit percentage growth versus 4.1% in 2024. Sanofi is investing in its new product launches to optimize its success. Sanofi also has a strong immunology and neuro-inflammation pipeline, which includes some potential blockbuster assets in phase III development, including amlitelimab, frexalimab and tolebrutinib.SNY’s Zacks Rank & Stock to ConsiderSanofi currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).Sanofi Price and Consensus Sanofi price-consensus-chart | Sanofi QuoteA better-ranked large drugmaker is Gilead GILD, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Estimates for Gilead’s 2025 earnings have risen from $7.38 to $7.56 per share over the past 60 days. In the past year, Gilead’s stock has risen 22.2%.Gilead beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing in one, delivering a four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15.46%.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN): Free Stock Analysis Report Sanofi (SNY): Free Stock Analysis Report AstraZeneca PLC (AZN): Free Stock Analysis Report Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks