Strong U.S. market! WuXi AppTec's net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025 surges by 105.2%, with revenue expected to grow by 18%–22% in 2026 | Financial Report Insights

Strong U.S. market! WuXi AppTec's net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025 surges by 105.2%, with revenue expected to grow by 18%–22% in 2026 | Financial Report Insights

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Under the “CRDMO integrated” model, WuXi AppTec continues its high growth momentum.

The earnings report released on Monday shows that WuXi AppTec achieved revenue of 45.46 billion RMB in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 15.8%. Excluding businesses classified as discontinued operations, revenue from continuing operations was 43.42 billion RMB, with growth accelerating to 21.4% year-on-year.

Profitability improved even more significantly. The company’s annual gross profit was 21.38 billion RMB, up 33.5% year-on-year, with gross margin rising to 47.0%, an increase of 6.2 percentage points. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 19.19 billion RMB, more than doubling by 105.2% year-on-year, with net margin at a high 42.2%. Adjusted (non-IFRS) net profit attributable to shareholders was 14.96 billion RMB, up 41.3% year-on-year, with a net margin of 32.9%—showing both core operating recovery and one-time gains boosted performance.

The order side also indicates strong visibility: By the end of 2025, the company had 58 billion RMB of orders in its continuing operations, up 28.8% year-on-year. In terms of regional structure, US market revenue was 31.25 billion RMB, up 34.3% year-on-year, making it the main growth driver.

The company plans to distribute a final dividend of 15.7927 RMB (tax inclusive) per 10 shares, totaling about 4.712 billion RMB. Management also provided guidance for 2026 revenue of 51.3–53 billion RMB, expecting continuing operations revenue to grow by 18%–22% year-on-year.

Revenue Breakdown: Faster Growth in Continuing Operations, Chemistry is the Main Engine

From the structure of the report, there is a clear split in 2025 between “continuing operations” and “discontinued operations”: Discontinued operations revenue was 2.035 billion RMB, down 41.4% year-on-year, while continuing operations revenue reached 43.42 billion RMB, up 21.4% year-on-year, driving overall group growth.

By business segment (according to reporting division):

  • Chemistry business (WuXi Chemistry): Revenue of 36.47 billion RMB, up 25.5% year-on-year, accounting for the vast majority of group revenue.
  • Testing business (WuXi Testing): Revenue of 4.04 billion RMB, up 4.7% year-on-year, returning to positive growth after fluctuations.
  • Biology business (WuXi Biology): Revenue of 2.68 billion RMB, up 5.2% year-on-year.
  • Other businesses: Revenue of 0.236 billion RMB, down 23.8% year-on-year.

From an “incremental” perspective, the chemistry and pharmaceutical business carried most of the growth; testing and biologicals showed more restorative growth, with scale and elasticity weaker than the chemistry business.

Regions & Orders: Strong Pull from US Clients

Revenue from continuing operations by region in 2025 was “unbalanced”:

  • US clients: 31.25 billion RMB, +34.3% year-on-year
  • European clients: 4.82 billion RMB, -4.0% year-on-year
  • Chinese clients: 5.47 billion RMB, -3.5% year-on-year
  • Other regions: 1.88 billion RMB, +4.1% year-on-year

Against this background, the company’s orders grew 28.8% year-on-year to 58 billion RMB, meaning that delivery pace and capacity release will determine revenue fulfillment speed in 2026. For investors, this structure highlights two points: First, near-term growth depends more on US market conditions and project progress; Second, the recovery in Europe and China will affect the “breadth” and volatility of growth.

Chemistry Business: Small Molecule D&M Steady, TIDES Nearly Doubles as Second Growth Curve

The growth in chemistry business is not driven by a single point, but by a combination of “R channeling + D&M scaling + TIDES accelerating.”

1) R end continues to channel, supporting rolling growth of CRDMO
The company disclosed that it synthesized and delivered over 420,000 new compounds for clients in 2025; R to D transition molecules numbered 310 for the year. For the CRDMO model, the efficiency of the R end determines the size of subsequent clinical project pools.

2) Small molecule D&M remains robust, with pipeline and late-stage projects rising
2025 small molecule D&M revenue was 19.92 billion RMB, up 11.4% year-on-year. 839 new molecules were added during the year; by year end, the small molecule D&M pipeline totaled 3,452 molecules, including:

  • Commercialized projects: 83
  • Phase III clinical projects: 91
  • Phase II clinical projects: 377
  • Preclinical & Phase I clinical: 2,901

3) Capacity & Compliance: Multiple sites passed FDA inspections with “zero defects,” reactor expansion

Changzhou, Taixing, and Jinshan API sites all passed FDA inspection with “zero defects”; by end 2025, total volume of small molecule API reactors exceeded 4,000 kL. As global clients emphasize supply chain stability and compliance certainty, such information often carries more order conversion significance than “capacity expansion plans.”

4) TIDES continues rapid expansion, revenue up 96% year-on-year

TIDES business revenue in 2025 was 11.37 billion RMB, up 96.0% year-on-year, driving orders up 20.2% year-on-year. The company disclosed that TIDES D&M service client count grew 25% year-on-year, and service molecule count grew 45%. In September 2025, the Taixing peptide capacity expansion was completed ahead of schedule, with total solid-phase peptide synthesis reactor volume exceeding 100,000 L.

From the report language, TIDES has shifted from “capacity ramp-up to realize revenue” to “capacity expansion driving project and client penetration,” strengthening the growth structure of the chemistry segment.

Testing & Biologics: Revenue Recovers but Gross Margin Drops, Price Pressure Shows in Results

Both testing and biologics segments saw low-single-digit growth in 2025, but consistent “gross margin decline” in profit.

  • Testing business: Revenue 4.04 billion RMB, +4.7% y-o-y; gross profit 1.176 billion RMB, -14.1% y-o-y, margin down to 29.1% (-6.4 percentage points). Company attributed to “market influences and price factors gradually appearing as orders are converted.”
  • Biologics business: Revenue 2.68 billion RMB, +5.2% y-o-y; gross profit 0.923 billion RMB, -3.4% y-o-y, margin down to 34.5% (-3.1 percentage points), similarly pointing to price pressure.

Notably, both segments mentioned “revenue share from new molecule business rising to over 30%,” maintaining advantages in nucleic acids, peptides, conjugates, bispecific antibodies, etc.; and improving efficiency in automation & software tools (e.g., drug property evaluation spectral efficiency up 83%). But the financial results show that efficiency improvements have not fully offset short-term price declines—the future key variable is whether the share of high-tech barrier projects can rise further, and whether price competition intensifies in 2026.

Gross Margin Soars to 47%: Project Structure Optimization & Capacity Efficiency Are Key

The company’s overall gross margin rose to 47.0% in 2025, up 6.2 percentage points, mainly explained by higher share of late-stage clinical & commercial projects, yielding better capacity utilization, labor efficiency, and operating efficiency.

By segment, gross margin improvement was mainly contributed by chemistry:

  • Chemistry gross margin: 51.2%, +5.5 percentage points (gross profit up 40.7%)
  • Testing gross margin: 29.1%, -6.4 percentage points
  • Biology gross margin: 34.5%, -3.1 percentage points

In other words, the “lift” in company gross margin is mainly driven by chemistry scale-up, process optimization, and improved project structure, not by simultaneous improvement across all business lines. Observation focus for 2026 therefore falls on chemistry: Can further expansion of late-stage/commercial projects offset price pressure in testing and biology?

Final Dividend Proposed at around 4.7 Billion RMB

For shareholder returns, the board proposes a 2025 final dividend of 15.7927 RMB (tax inclusive) per 10 shares, with total payout estimated at about 4.712 billion RMB based on shares issued at announcement. Considering full-year free cash flow of 10.89 billion RMB, this dividend payout has some safety cushion in cash flow coverage, but as the company is still in a capacity-investment and global expansion phase, balancing future dividends and capital expenditure remains a focus.

2026 Guidance: Revenue 51.3–53 Billion RMB, Key Depends on Order Conversion, Pricing, and External Variables

The company expects overall revenue of 51.3–53 billion RMB in 2026, continuing operations revenue growth of 18%–22% year-on-year, emphasizing that this outlook is based on current orders and assumes stable pharmaceutical industry, international trade, and regulatory environment, thus subject to uncertainties.

For execution, the core variables for 2026 are three-fold:

1) Efficiency of converting orders to revenue (especially with small molecule late-stage/commercial and TIDES scaling);

2) Whether price pressure in testing and biology segments eases, and whether higher share of “new molecule/high barrier” projects can stabilize gross margin;

3) The impact of exchange rates, regulations, and international trade environment on cross-region delivery and client budgets—the expansion of exchange rate losses in 2025 already signals that external variables amplify profit volatility.

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