Sartorius AG

Group sales revenue increased 7.7% on an operational basis in H1 2026; including tariff-refund effects, sales rose 6.2% in constant currencies and 2.5% reported. Group underlying EBITDA was EUR 548 million, up 3.9%, and the underlying EBITDA margin improved 50 bps to 30.3%. Underlying net profit rose 2% to EUR 172 million and underlying EPS was EUR 2.49 per ordinary share and EUR 2.50 per preference share. Net operating cash flow increased almost 26% to EUR 364 million and free cash flow rose more than 70% to EUR 208 million. For the full year, Sartorius expects group sales growth of 5% to 9%, underlying EBITDA margin slightly above 30%, CapEx ratio around the prior-year level, and net debt to underlying EBITDA slightly above 3x. Sartorius Stedim Biotech reported H1 sales of EUR 1.53 billion, underlying EBITDA of EUR 417 million, underlying EBITDA margin of 31.4%, underlying EPS of EUR 2.42, and full-year sales growth guidance of 6% to 10% with underlying EBITDA margin slightly above 31%.

Michael Grosse framed the first half as encouraging, saying the company continued its 'profitable growth trajectory' with stronger profitability and strong cash flow. He emphasized that customer discussions point to robust industry innovation, investment activity, and sustained demand for high-performance single-use products, reagents, and AI-enabled tools. He also stressed that the company is well positioned in biologics, advanced therapies, and digital lab workflows, and that the long-term market drivers remain very strong.

Florian Funck focused on three themes: underlying sales are tracking well, earnings quality is improving, and cash generation is very strong. He highlighted group underlying EBITDA of EUR 548 million, margin of 30.3%, net operating cash flow of EUR 364 million, free cash flow of EUR 208 million, and a leverage ratio improvement to 3.5x from 3.55x. He also noted net debt of EUR 3.76 billion, an equity ratio of 41.6%, CapEx of EUR 161 million (8.9% of sales), and said the company remains focused on disciplined capital allocation and deleveraging.

Analysts focused on the durability of consumables growth, delayed advanced-modality orders, and whether competitor issues were related; management said the delays were isolated to two advanced-therapy customers and not related to broader monoclonal antibody demand. They said those orders are more likely to show up toward the end of 2026 or in 2027, and that core consumables demand remains strong across pharma, biotech, and CDMOs. Questions also probed tariffs, APAC strength, equipment recovery, and the Americas; management said tariff effects are technical and temporary, APAC remains robust, and North America looks healthy after adjusting for the tariff and advanced-therapy timing effects.