WuXi AppTec Shares Surge on Strong Earnings, Higher Guidance

By Megan Cheah

WuXi AppTec shares rose sharply Tuesday morning, after the pharmaceutical-services company raised its full-year revenue forecast on strong first-half results.

Its Hong Kong stock rose as much as 15% to 186.60 Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to US$23.79, before paring gains to trade 11% higher. Its Shanghai-listed shares rose as much as 10% to 141.35 yuan, its highest intraday level since 2021.

The Shanghai-based contract research, development and manufacturing company, which provides laboratory and testing services for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, reported its earnings for the six months ended June on Monday.

Profit rose 34% to 11.08 billion yuan, equivalent to US$1.64 billion, compared with the same period a year earlier. Its revenue gained 39% to 28.90 billion yuan over the same period.

The strong earnings prompted the company to raise its full-year revenue guidance to between 58.50 billion yuan and 60.50 billion yuan, from between 51.30 billion yuan and 53.00 billion yuan. It also targets higher capital expenditure and stronger adjusted free-cash flow this year.

Nomura analyst Jialin Zhang cheered the robust earnings print and boosted guidance, raising his 2026 revenue and profit projections by 11% and 15%, respectively. The bank also lifted its target price for WuXi AppTec's Hong Kong-listed shares to HK$209.99 from HK$180.22, and for its Shanghai-listed shares to 191.09 yuan from 164.00 yuan.

The shares' large gains also appear to shrug off concerns about WuXi AppTec's inclusion on a Pentagon list of companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military, a move which the company said Monday "created severe market interference."

The designation, which was also placed on several other technology, biotechnology and robotics firms including Alibaba Group and Baidu, restricts how these companies operate in the U.S. This has led to uncertainties in WuXi AppTec's U.S. business relationships, the company said.

WuXi AppTec said it is pursuing all available legal remedies to correct this "erroneous" inclusion. It has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against the Defense Department as well as a preliminary injunction to prevent the Pentagon from taking action related to the designation during the continuing litigation, it said.

Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 03, 2026 23:33 ET (03:33 GMT)