Chugai Earnings: Slight Outperformance, Healthy Pipeline Progress, Shares Near Fair Value Estimate

Narrow-moat Chugai's third-quarter earnings were slightly better than expectations on strong overseas shipments of Hemlibra to Roche, which were buoyed by robust demand as well as favorable currency rates. The company is on track to meet its full-year guidance of JPY 1.07 trillion revenue and JPY 415 billion operating profit and may even outperform slightly. We maintain our fair value estimate of JPY 4,860. We view shares as close to fairly valued.