Germany's Merck Raises Guidance Again on Growth Across Units

By Adria Calatayud

Germany's Merck KGaA raised its annual guidance for the third time this year, citing top-line growth across its businesses and favorable currency movements.

The Darmstadt, Germany-based conglomerate said Thursday that it expects full-year net sales to range between 21.5 billion and 21.9 billion euros ($23.84 billion-$24.29 billion), against its prior forecast of between 21 billion and 21.8 billion euros.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization excluding one-time items for the year are forecast at between 6.2 billion and 6.4 billion euros, which compares with previous guidance of 5.9 billion to 6.3 billion euros.

"Our upgraded full-year guidance reflects our confidence that Merck will continue to deliver solid performance in 2026," Chief Executive Kai Beckmann said.

For the third quarter, Merck reported an after-tax profit of 450 million euros, down 50% compared with the year-earlier period, when its results benefited from one-off gains.

Excluding one-time items, Ebitda was up 0.8% at 1.68 billion euros, the company said. Analysts polled by Vara Research had forecast the metric at 1.61 billion euros.

Net sales grew 5.8% to 5.63 billion euros, beating consensus estimates of 5.46 billion euros. Quarterly sales grew 5.1% organically, Merck said.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2026 01:23 ET (06:23 GMT)