1. Scrip
  2. >>Business
  3. >>Stock Watch

Stock Watch: Robust Diagnostics And Biosimilar Erosion Vie In Roche’s Q2

COVID-19 Testing May Support Roche Longer Than Expected

 
• By Andy Smith

Roche’s stock price has underperformed in the last nine months in spite of a natural hedge on the strong US dollar that has troubled most other profitable pharma companies. Has Roche become a value stock?

Andy Smith
ANDY SMITH OFFERS A LIFE SCIENCE INVESTOR'S PERSPECTIVE ON BIOPHARMA BUSINESS

After the second quarter of 2021 Roche Holding AG started describing its quarterly results as “good”: previously they had been “strong.” Over the following nine months, Roche’s stock price also weakened, falling by almost 13% against the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index’s nearly 9% gain.

Placing its sales growth between Novartis AG’s fall by 1.4% and Johnson & Johnson’s 3.0% increase over the same quarter of 2021 as announced in the previous week’s second-quarter financial reports, Roche reported second-quarter group revenues that grew by a modest 0.4% on the same period in 2021, beating analysts’ consensus estimates by 2%. (Also see "Roche Is ‘Aiming For The Sky’ With Vabysmo Commercial Launch" - Scrip, 21 July, 2022.) Apart from a weak third quarter of 2021, this was only the second quarter since the midst of the pandemic when Roche’s diagnostics sales growth was eclipsed by its pharmaceuticals. There are a number of moving parts to this

More from Stock Watch

Stock Watch: Stock Watch: Lilly And Novo Duke Out Q1

 
• By Andy Smith

Novo Nordisk enjoyed a surprise GLP-1 agonist contracting win in the first quarter of 2025. This provided a welcome boost to its stock after it had spent the previous quarter on the back foot against rival Lilly.

Stock Watch: Market Optimism Outshines Q1 Currency And Tariff Woes

 
• By Andy Smith

The weak US dollar helped some companies reporting first-quarter results and hindered others reporting in stronger currencies. But even the impacts of currencies and Medicare modernization on first-quarter revenues were overlooked when an end to the trade wars seemed possible.

Stock Watch: Sanofi, Merck Open Windows Into Geopolitical Risks

 
• By Andy Smith

First-quarter results season featured tariff talk but without any full-year quantitation. As tariffs and foreign exchange movements bump up against capped drug prices, profitability could suffer.

Stock Watch: Dollar Weakness, Tariffs, Biosimilars In J&J’s Q1 Mix

 
• By Andy Smith

Announcing increased full-year earnings guidance and another dividend increase, Johnson & Johnson’s stock price weakened, outweighed by concerns about the replacement of Stelara revenues and possible drug import tariffs.

More from Business

Novo Nordisk’s CEO Forced Out After Falling Behind In GLP-1 Battle

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

Company surprises investors with Jørgensen's exit but insists its strategy will not change.

In Brief: US FDA Delay Sends Biohaven Shares Down

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

The US regulator’s decision has taken Biohaven and investors by surprise, with the reason for a ‘major amendment’ status not clear.

In Brief: Sanofi Commits $20bn To US R&D And Manufacturing By 2030

 
• By Sushmita Panda

Move by French major aligns with broader industry efforts to localize production amid political pressure, as Trump pushes to onshore manufacturing and hints at easing tariff threats.