April 23 (Reuters) – West Pharmaceutical on Thursday raised its annual profit and revenue forecasts after beating estimates for first-quarter results, betting on strong demand for its proprietary products that include syringes and cartridges for injectable drugs.
Shares of the company rose nearly 13% with low volumes before the bell.
Medical equipment makers such as West Pharma have benefited from surging demand for diabetes and obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, which rely on injection pens to deliver the therapies.
West Pharma makes components such as stoppers, plungers and delivery systems used to package and administer vaccines, biologics and other injectable drugs.
The Exton, Pennsylvania-based company now expects 2026 adjusted profit per share between $8.40 and $8.75, up from its prior forecast of $7.85 to $8.20.
Analysts, on average, were expecting $8.01 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
For the quarter ended March 31, the company posted adjusted profit of $2.13 per share, above analysts’ estimate of $1.68 per share. Quarterly revenue rose to $844.9 million, above expectations of $780 million.
“The better-than-expected performance can be attributed to continued market demand and the team’s outstanding efforts in ramping up production, especially in Europe,” said CEO Eric Green.
It now expects 2026 sales to be between $3.29 billion and $3.35 billion, up from its prior view of $3.215 billion to $3.275 billion.
The company expects second-quarter sales to be in the range of $830 million to $850 million, compared with estimates of $818.5 million.
Quarterly revenue in its proprietary products unit, which offers packaging products such as syringes and cartridges for injectable drugs, came in at $694.3 million, which beat analysts’ average estimates of $631.3 million. The segment contributes more than half of the company’s total revenue.
(Reporting by Kunal Das and Siddhi Mahatole; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Sahal Muhammed)
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