Biogen BIIB reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.02, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.32.
Earnings declined 18% year over year on a reported basis, owing to costs related to an upfront payment of $165 million made to Stoke Therapeutics STOK. BIIB entered into a collaboration agreement with STOK for the development and commercialization of the latter’s pipeline candidate, zorevunersen for treating Dravet syndrome in February. (Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)
Total revenues in the first quarter came in at $2.43 billion, up 6% year over year on a reported basis and 8% on a constant-currency basis. Lower sales of Biogen’s key multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs like Tecfidera and Tysabri were partially offset by higher revenues from new drugs. Sales of the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) drug, Spinraza, improved slightly in the quarter. Revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.23 billion.
Year to date, shares of Biogen have declined 20.9% compared with the industry’s decrease of 3.3%.
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BIIB's Q1 Revenues in Detail
Total product sales in the quarter were $1.73 billion, up 1% year over year on a reported basis and 3% on a constant-currency basis.
Revenues from anti-CD20 therapeutic programs declined 4% to $378 million. The revenues include royalties on sales of Roche’s RHHBY Ocrevus and Biogen’s share of RHHBY’s drugs, namely Rituxan, Gazyva and Lunsumio.
Contract manufacturing and royalty revenues surged 61% year over year on a reported basis to $293 million. Alzheimer’s collaboration revenues were $33 million compared with $3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Alzheimer’s collaboration revenues include Biogen’s 50% share of net product revenues and cost of sales (including royalties) from Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab), which has been developed in collaboration with Eisai. Eisai recorded nearly $96 million in global revenues from Leqembi sales in the first quarter, reflecting an increase from $87 million in the previous quarter.
Leqembi has been launched in the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico and some other countries. The European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization to Leqembi for early AD in April 2025.
BIIB's Q1 MS Revenues Decline
Biogen’s MS revenues totaled $953 million, down 11% on a reported basis (10% on a constant-currency basis) due to generic competition for Tecfidera and rising competitive pressure in the MS market.
Tecfidera sales declined almost 19% to $206.1 million as multiple generic versions of the drug have been launched in the United States, North America and certain EU countries. Tecfidera sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $201 million and our model estimate of $185.7 million.
Vumerity recorded $138.8 million in sales, up around 8.9% year over year. Vumerity sales missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $141 million and our model estimate of $139.8 million.
Tysabri sales declined 11.5% year over year to $381.5 million. Tysabri's sales beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $364 million.
Combined interferon revenues (Avonex and Plegridy) in the quarter were $226.3 million, down 7.1% due to a continued shift from the injectable platform to oral or high-efficacy therapies.
Per management, around 45% of BIIB’s total product revenues in the first quarter were generated from products outside of the company's MS business.
BIIB's Rare Disease Drugs Sales Rise
Sales of Spinraza rose 24.2% to $423.9 million driven by the favorable timing of shipments. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $365 million and our estimate of $338.1 million.
Rare disease drug Skyclarys, which was added with the 2023 acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals, generated sales of $123.9 million compared with $102.2 million in the previous quarter. An expected Medicare discount dynamics hurt Skyclarys’ sales in the United States, partially offset by demand growth.
New drug, Qalsody for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) recorded sales of $15.5 million compared with $11.7 million in the previous quarter.
Performance of BIIB's Other Products
New drug, Zurzuvae for postpartum depression recorded $28 million in sales in the first quarter of 2025. Sales rose 21.7% sequentially.
Biogen has a collaboration with Sage Therapeutics SAGE for Zurzuvae.
BIIB and SAGE equally share profits and losses for the commercialization of Zurzuvae in the United States. At the same time, outside U.S. markets, Biogen records product sales (excluding Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea) and pays royalties to Sage. Zurzuvae has not yet been approved in the EU.
Biosimilar revenues declined 8% year over year to $180.8 million in the first quarter.
BIIB's Q1 Cost Discussion
Adjusted research and development (R&D) expenses declined 3% year over year to $427 million, driven by the company’s cost-saving initiatives under its “Fit for Growth” program and savings from the R&D portfolio prioritization efforts.
Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses rose 1% to $572 million due to higher costs to support the new product launches, partially offset by cost savings under the “Fit for Growth” program.
The company reaffirmed its total revenue guidance for 2025.
Total revenues in 2025 are expected to decline by a mid-single-digit percentage in constant currency terms versus the 2024 level. A further decline in MS product revenues is expected to be partially offset by higher revenues from new products.
To reflect the ~ 95 cents adverse impact from a $165 million upfront payment made to STOK, Biogen lowered its adjusted EPS guidance for 2025. The company now expects earnings per share to be in the range of $14.50 to $15.50 compared with the previous expectation of $15.25 to $16.25. The updated guidance fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.63 per share.
Combined R&D and SG&A costs are expected to be around $3.9 billion in 2025.
Biogen Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Biogen Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Biogen Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Biogen Inc. Quote
BIIB's Zacks Rank
Biogen currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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