Why West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Was Blasting Higher on Thursday
Key Points
It was a beat-and-raise third quarter for the healthcare services specialist.
It experienced broad growth throughout its product and service offerings.
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West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE: WST) published its latest set of quarterly figures early Thursday morning, and investors were pleased to see the company did better than expected. They reacted by pushing the company's share price up by nearly 11%, easily eclipsing the 0.6% rise of the S&P 500 index.
Healthy improvements
West Pharmaceutical booked net sales of just under $805 million in its third quarter, which was nearly 8% higher year over year. Net income according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) also defied gravity, rising by 3% to $140 million. On a non-GAAP (adjusted) and per-share basis, the bottom line swelled to $1.96 from the year-ago $1.85.
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Both headline figures trounced not only the company's own expectations, but those of analysts tracking the stock -- a major reason for the Thursday share price pop. Those pundits were anticipating slightly over $786 million for net sales, and a mere $1.69 per share for adjusted bottom-line profitability.
West Pharmaceuticals attributed its better-than-expected performance to broad strength across the major products and services it offers.
A double raise
Clearly demonstrating confidence in its future, West Pharmaceuticals raised its revenue and profitability guidance for the entirety of 2025.
The company now believes it will earn $3.06 billion to $3.07 billion on the top line; previously it was guiding for $3.04 billion to $3.06 billion. The adjusted net income forecast also received a boost; management reset its anticipated range to $7.06 to $7.11 per share. That's quite some distance north of the preceding estimate, which was $6.65 to $6.85.
The low end of both ranges is above the average analyst estimate. For revenue, the consensus pundit projection is just under $3.05 billion, while that for adjusted profitability is $6.78 per share.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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