West Pharmaceutical Raised Outlook as Biologics Drove Growth
The company lifted full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $8.85 to $9.05 a share.
West Pharmaceutical Services (WST), a maker of injectable-drug packaging and delivery systems, raised its full-year outlook after biologics demand lifted second-quarter sales and margins.
Growth remained well above late-2024 levels, though it eased from the first quarter. Organic sales rose 12.7%, compared with 15.3% in the prior quarter and 3.3% in the fourth quarter.
Net sales increased 13.8% from a year earlier to $872.3 million and rose 3.2% sequentially. Reported earnings increased 18.1% to $2.15 a share, while adjusted earnings rose 28.8% to $2.37 a share. Gross margin expanded two percentage points to 37.7%, and adjusted operating margin widened 2.3 points to 22.6%.
Proprietary Products drove the advance, with sales rising 16.6% to $722.6 million and operating profit increasing 31% to $211.9 million. Biologics sales climbed 30.3% to $374.8 million, outpacing organic growth of 6.7% in Generics and 1.6% in Pharma.
High-value product categories accounted for more of the business. HVP Components sales rose 19.4% to $424.1 million, helped by biologics, Annex 1 upgrades and GLP-1 elastomers, while HVP Delivery Devices sales increased 29.6% to $131.2 million. Together, those gains contrasted with 0.7% organic growth in Standard Products.
West Vantage remained a drag on the broader expansion. Its sales rose 2% from a year earlier but slipped sequentially to $149.7 million, while operating profit fell 27.5% to $12.9 million. Asia-Pacific led geographic growth with a 27% organic increase, ahead of gains in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Americas.
West now expects full-year net sales of $3.345 billion to $3.380 billion and organic growth of 10% to 11%. Third-quarter sales guidance of $820 million to $835 million points to a sequential decline of 4.3% to 6%, with organic growth slowing to 7% to 8.9%.
Operating cash flow rose to $213.9 million from $89.9 million in the first quarter, and free cash flow increased to $128 million from $47.2 million. The quarter also included M&A-related costs, an investment impairment and charges tied partly to professional fees following a May cybersecurity incident.