Strong CDMO demand to fuel 2026 growth

药明康德(603259)
    WuXi AppTec reported impressive financial results for 2025, with revenuegrowing by 15.8% YoY (including 21.4% YoY growth for continuing operations)and adj. non-IFRS attributable net profit expanding at a remarkable 41.3% YoY.The Company's 2025 revenue and adj. net profit beat our estimates by 2.7% and18.2%, respectively. Looking ahead, mgmt. projects 2026 revenue to reach RMB51.3-53.0bn, along with 18-22% YoY revenue growth for continuing operations,while the adj. non-IFRS net profit margin is expected to remain stable.
    Strong CDMO demand. As of 4Q25, the backlog for WuXi AppTec’scontinuing operations grew by 28.8% YoY (or 34% on a constant currencybasis) to reach RMB58.0bn. Although this signifies a deceleration from+45.8% YoY growth recorded as of 3Q25, we note that such growth is highlycommendable given the already massive absolute base of backlog, clearlyindicating the consistently high demand from global customers, particularlyfor its CDMO services. As of 4Q25, backlog for TIDES increased by 20.2%YoY, accelerating from the +17.1% growth at the end of 3Q25. Mgmt.disclosed that the TIDES backlog has reached ~RMB20.0 bn. Based on thisfigure, we calculate that the backlog for other businesses booked YoYgrowth of 33.8% in 2025, and we believe the strong growth was primarilydriven by the small molecule D&M business. Supported by the robustdemand, mgmt. forecasts that the TIDES business will grow by 30-40% YoY(on a constant currency basis) in 2026, while the small molecule D&Mbusiness is also expected to experience accelerated growth.
    Early-stage businesses recovering with improvement in revenuegrowth. Within the chemistry segment, full-year revenue for small moleculedrug discovery services declined by 3.8% YoY (a marked improvement fromthe -28.7% YoY drop in 2024), with 2H25 seeing a narrowed decline of 2.2%YoY. Revenue from Testing segment grew by 4.7% YoY (vs -8.0% YoY in2024), driven by 8.8% YoY growth in 2H25. Similarly, revenue from Biologysegment increased by 5.2% YoY (vs -0.3% YoY in 2024). As the globalbiotech funding continues to recover, we believe the early-stage businessesare well-positioned to maintain this recovery momentum throughout 2026.
    Doubling down on global capacity expansion. WuXi AppTec's capex in2025 amounted to RMB5.54bn, representing a YoY surge of 38.5% (vs -27.5% YoY decline in 2024). To support ongoing global capacity build-outsand to capture future market opportunities, mgmt. anticipated 2026 capex toreach RMB6.5 - 7.5 bn, implying a YoY increase of 17.3% to 35.4%. Notably,the Company plans to further expand its solid-phase peptide synthesisreactor volume to 130,000 liters, serving as a strong indicator of the surgingmanufacturing demand for peptide and oligonucleotide drugs.
    Maintain BUY. We raise our DCF-based TP from RMB123.35 toRMB133.00 (WACC: 9.39%, terminal growth: 2.00%; both unchanged), tofactor into the updated guidance and our positive demand outlook. We nowexpect revenue to grow by 13.7%/ 15.7%/ 13.4% YoY (for continuingoperations: 19.1%/ 15.7%/ 13.4% YoY) and adjusted non-IFRS net profit togrow by 19.9%/ 16.0%/ 13.6% YoY in 2026E/ 27E/ 28E, respectively.