One of the healthier stocks on the market Friday was veteran biotech Biogen (BIIB 0.46%). The company unveiled its final set of fundamentals for 2025, and it crushed analyst estimates for both trailing and forward profitability. It was little wonder that impressed market players piled into the stock, leaving it with a nearly 9% gain on the day.
Fine despite the declines
Biogen's fourth quarter saw the company book total revenue of almost $2.28 billion, down 7% year over year. Net income not in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) fell more steeply, falling to just under $294 million ($1.99 per share) from the year-ago profit of over $502 million.
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Although no investor likes to see drops like that, Biogen's headline numbers topped the consensus analyst estimates. Pundits tracking the biotech were anticipating slightly lower revenue of $2.21 billion, and merely $1.61 per share for non-GAAP (adjusted) net income.
Product revenue, the most significant contributor to the top line, fell by 9% to under $1.67 billion. Within this, the largest drug category -- multiple sclerosis (MS) treatments -- saw a double-digit slide due to the continued rise of competing generics and biosimilars; year over year, the take for these medications fell by 14% to $917 million.
NASDAQ: BIIB
Key Data Points
New paths for growth?
Biogen also proffered guidance for full-year 2026, noting that it "reflects continued business momentum and financial discipline." The company expects revenue to decline in the mid-single digits from the 2025 result, while adjusted net income is projected to be $15.25 to $16.25. The latter range sits well above the average analyst estimate of $14.92.
The company's thundering bottom-line beats -- both trailing and forward -- clearly show that it's doing a good job moving past its historical dependence on that MS portfolio. Its "New Biogen" medicines saw sales growth of 6%, and the company has a robust pipeline that will surely bolster that lineup. I think investors were right to trade the stock up on the latest results.
