Shares of WuXi AppTec (SS:603259) climbed sharply on Tuesday after the Chinese contract research and manufacturing services provider released full-year results showing a significant increase in profitability. The company said net profit attributable to shareholders more than doubled in 2025 to 19.19 billion yuan.
Trading in Hong Kong saw the stock rise as much as 10% to HK$112.8, while the Shanghai-listed shares advanced nearly 7% to 93.65 yuan.
Revenue for the year increased 15.8% to 45.46 billion yuan, with the WuXi Chemistry division delivering particularly strong performance, recording a 25.5% rise in revenue. Management cited an expanding contribution from late-stage clinical and commercial projects as a factor in margin improvement.
On an adjusted non-IFRS basis, net profit rose 41.3% to 14.96 billion yuan. Gross profit margin for the group improved to 47.0% from 40.8% a year earlier, reflecting the greater mix of higher-margin later-stage work.
Geographic revenue trends were mixed. Sales to U.S.-based customers climbed 34.3%, which helped offset weaker demand from Europe and China. The company also reported that backlog for continuing operations grew 28.8% to reach 58 billion yuan by the end of 2025.
For 2026, WuXi AppTec provided a revenue forecast in the range of 51.3 billion yuan to 53.0 billion yuan. That guidance implies growth in continuing operations of roughly 18% to 22% compared with the prior year. The company also proposed a final cash dividend of 15.7927 yuan per 10 shares.
The results highlight a period of stronger commercial and late-stage project activity within the business, accompanied by notable regional variation in demand. The combination of improved margins and growing backlog underpinned the market reaction, with investors responding positively to both the earnings beat and the revenue outlook.
Context and implications
WuXi AppTec's financials for 2025 show broad upward movement in key operational metrics: top-line growth, higher adjusted profit, expanded gross margin, and a larger backlog. The outsized increase in U.S. customer revenue helped compensate for softer activity in European and Chinese markets. Management's 2026 revenue range sets expectations for continued double-digit growth in continuing operations, subject to execution against that guidance.