By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Teva Pharmaceutical Industries reported a better than expected increase in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by a 26% rise in sales of its branded drugs and said it was well positioned to mitigate potential U.S. tariffs. Richard Francis, CEO of Teva, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, said there was “big […]
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Teva Pharm’s second-quarter profit boosted by branded drugs, US tariff questions remain
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By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Teva Pharmaceutical Industries reported a better than expected increase in second-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by a 26% rise in sales of its branded drugs and said it was well positioned to mitigate potential U.S. tariffs.
Richard Francis, CEO of Teva, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, said there was “big ambiguity” and “so many unanswered questions” in the pharmaceuticals sector regarding potential U.S. import levies.
He added, however, that the Israel-based company, had been leveraging its U.S.-based manufacturing facilities and its minimal reliance upon China and India to soften the blow from any eventual tariffs.
“Those aspects just set us up in the face of this change, probably a lot better than our competitors,” Francis told Reuters. “I feel we have the ability to put ourselves in a good position here, with the caveat – I need to know the details.”
U.S. President Donald Trump initially threatened Israel with a 17% import tariff on its exports to the United States. But what will happen after his August 1 deadline expires remains unclear.
Global drugmakers also face the possibility of a sector-specific U.S. tariff on pharmaceuticals despite some drug shortages in the United States.
Teva said it earned 66 cents per diluted share, excluding one-time items, in the April-June quarter, up from 61 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue was flat in dollar terms at $4.18 billion.
Analysts had forecast earnings of 62 cents per share ex-items for the Israel-based company on revenue of $4.28 billion, LSEG I/B/E/S data showed.
Teva largely reaffirmed its 2025 estimates but revised its adjusted EPS forecast to $2.50-$2.65 from $2.45-$2.65.
It still projects revenue of $16.8 billion to $17.2 billion this year and said it was on track for 30% operating profit margin by 2027.
After a strong 2024, generic drugs were largely flat globally in the quarter, falling in the United States but offset by gains in Europe.
Among its branded drugs, sales of its Huntington’s Disease treatment Austedo grew 19% to $498 million, while migraine medicine Ajovy rose 31% to $155 million and Uzedy, a drug to treat schizophrenia, jumped 120% to $54 million.
As a result, Teva raised its estimate for 2025 sales of Austedo slightly to $2 billion to $2.05 billion. It sees sales of Ajovy at $630 million to $640 million and Uzedy at $190 million to $200 million.
It added it would double biosimilar revenues from 2024 to 2027 and said it remained in negotiations to sell its active pharmaceutical ingredients unit.
Teva, Francis noted, has a large pipeline of drugs that will be launched in the coming decade – starting with schizophrenia drug Olanzapine in the fourth quarter – that combined will likely peak at more than $10 billion in sales.
Its New York-listed shares were up 2.9% at $17.15 in mid-morning trade.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by Louise Heavens and Joe Bavier)