Sandoz Narrows 2026 Sales Outlook as Biosimilar Revenue Grows 17%

Swiss drugmaker Sandoz revised its full-year 2026 financial outlook on Wednesday, October 28, after reporting continued growth in biosimilar medicines alongside supply constraints that weighed on its third-quarter performance.

The company now expects annual net sales to increase by 5% to 6% at constant exchange rates, a narrower and lower range than its earlier expectation of mid-to-high-single-digit growth. At the same time, it raised its forecast core earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin to 23.0%–23.5%. The two changes point to a more cautious revenue forecast but greater confidence in profitability.

Third-quarter net sales were approximately $2.94 billion, below the $3.01 billion average analyst estimate cited by Reuters. Biosimilar sales reached $998 million, growing 17% at constant currencies from a year earlier, but also falling short of the cited $1.02 billion market expectation. Biosimilars represented 34% of quarterly sales, according to the company's release.

Sandoz said North America was its fastest-growing region in the quarter. It attributed some of the pressure on results to temporary supply constraints and difficulties in certain markets, including Germany. Biosimilars are lower-cost biological medicines developed to be highly similar to approved reference products; they are an important part of the company's longer-term expansion strategy.

The revised outlook is a company forecast, not a completed full-year result. The announcement was made on October 28, while the figures describe the preceding three-month reporting period.