Roche H1 Sales Decline on Currency Headwinds, Key Drugs Keep Momentum

Swiss pharma giant Roche Holding AG RHHBY reported sales of CHF 30.4 billion ($38.6 billion) in the first half of 2026, down 2% year over year due to the significant appreciation of the Swiss franc.

Sales were up 6% at constant exchange rates (CER).

Core earnings per share totaled CHF 10.85 in the first half, up 9% (CER) from the year-ago period’s level.

The company reports under two divisions — Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. All growth rates mentioned below are on a year-over-year basis and at CER.

Sales in the Pharmaceuticals Division grew 6% in the first half to CHF 23.6 billion, driven by strong growth in demand for its key drugs — Xolair (allergic asthma, chronic hives, food allergies), Hemlibra (haemophilia A), Ocrevus (multiple sclerosis), Phesgo (breast cancer) and Vabysmo (severe eye diseases).

The Diagnostics division’s sales were up 3% to CHF 6.7 billion, driven by demand for immunodiagnostic and clinical chemistry products as well as pathology and molecular solutions.

Roche’s shares have risen 0.3% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 10.5%.

The company posted second-quarter 2026 revenues of CHF 15.6 billion, up 5% at CER driven by growth in the pharmaceuticals division.

Roche’s shares have risen 0.3% year to date compared with the industry’s gain of 10.5%.

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How RHHBY’s Top Drugs Performed in H1 2026

The top five growth drivers — Phesgo, Xolair, Hemlibra, Vabysmo and Ocrevus — generated total sales of CHF 11 billion, reflecting an increase of 12% at CER, or 5% in CHF, from the year-ago period’s figure.

The increase in the sales of these drugs offset the decline in sales of Avastin (various types of cancer), Herceptin (breast and gastric cancer), MabThera/Rituxan (blood cancer, rheumatoid arthritis), Lucentis (severe eye diseases) and Actemra/RoActemra (rheumatoid arthritis) due to loss of exclusivity.

MS Ocrevus generated sales of CHF 3.5 billion, up 7%. This growth can be attributed to strong demand for subcutaneous formulation.

Sales of hemophilia A drug Hemlibra surged 11% year over year to CHF 2.5 billion on continued global growth.

Vabysmo sales grew 8% to CHF 2 billion on continued global growth.

Immuno-oncology drug Tecentriq’s (for advanced lung cancer, urothelial cancer and breast cancer) sales were up 6% to CHF 1.7 billion, driven by growth in new indications.

Xolair sales surged 27% to CHF 1.7 billion. Sales were fueled by strong uptake in food allergy. However, a biosimilar launch is expected in the second half of 2026.

Perjeta’s sales were down 7% year over year to CHF 1.4 billion.

Breast cancer drug Phesgo’s (a fixed-dose combination of Perjeta and Herceptin for subcutaneous injection) sales surged 18% year over year to CHF 1.3 billion due to strong conversion rates.

Actemra/RoActemra’s (rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19) sales declined 9% year over year to CHF 1 billion.  

Evrysdi generated sales of CHF 968 million, up 17% driven by expanding strong position in SMA.

Breast cancer drug Kadcyla generated sales of CHF 916 million, down 6%.

Sales of Polivy surged 20% to CHF 808 million, driven by strong uptake in first line diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma indication.

Sales of the lung cancer drug Alecensa rose 6% to CHF 795 million.

Sales of Rituxan/MabThera were up 5% to CHF 609 million.

Activase/TNKase sales totaled CHF 555 million, up 11%.

Blood cancer drug Gazyva/Gazyvaro’s sales totaled CHF 489 million, up 7% year over year.

Herceptin sales were down 12% on a year-over-year basis to CHF 462 million due to biosimilar competition in various countries.

Sales of Avastin, approved for multiple oncology indications, were down 15% to CHF 414 million due to biosimilar competition.

RHHBY’s Guidance for 2026

Roche expects total sales to grow in the mid-single-digit range (at CER) in 2026. Core EPS is expected to grow in the high single-digit range (CER). Roche expects to further raise its dividend in Swiss francs.

RHHBY’s Pipeline Progress

The FDA accepted RHHBY’s new drug application for giredestrant in ER-positive early-stage breast cancer and granted Priority Review. The agency granted a target action date of Nov. 30, 2026.  

The regulatory body also granted Priority Review to Roche’s application seeking approval for Gazyva/Gazyvaro for adults with primary membranous nephropathy.

Roche also obtained Priority Review from the FDA for Enspryng, the first and only at-home subcutaneous treatment option for thyroid eye disease.

Roche’s supplemental biologics license application seeking approval for Lunsumio and Polivy combination for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma has been accepted by the FDA.

The company reported positive results from the late-stage Krascendo 1 study evaluating experimental candidate, divarasib, in patients with previously treated KRAS G12C non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Divarasib is an investigational, next-generation, oral, KRAS G12C inhibitor.  

This phase III, randomized, open-label, multicentre study is evaluating the efficacy and safety of divarasib monotherapy versus Lumakras (sotorasib) or Krazati (adagrasib) in patients with previously treated KRAS G12C-mutant advanced or metastatic NSCLC.

The study met its primary and key secondary endpoints, with divarasib demonstrating clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival and overall survival.

Our Take on RHHBY’s Performance

Roche’s performance in the first half was weighed down by unfavorable foreign-exchange movements.

Nonetheless, the company’s underlying operational performance remained solid. Strong growth from key products helped offset declining revenues from legacy drugs.

MS drug Ocrevus and ophthalmology drug Vabysmo continued their stellar performances. Growth in hemophilia treatment Hemlibra and breast cancer drug Phesgo also boosted RHHBY’s top line.

Roche has a strong and diversified pipeline spanning multiple therapeutic modalities. A tentative approval of breast cancer candidate giredestrant could serve as a meaningful catalyst for the stock.

Roche has also collaborated with Nurix Therapeutics NRIX to co-develop and co-commercialize bexobrutideg (NX-5948) across malignant hematology, immunology and neurology indications.

The deal expands Roche’s hematology pipeline while providing opportunities to advance the therapy across immunology and neurology indications.

Under the agreement, Nurix will receive $700 million upfront and could earn up to $2.3 billion in total through development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments. Roche will fund 60% of development costs, with Nurix covering the remaining 40%.

The companies will jointly commercialize bexobrutideg in the United States, sharing profits and losses equally. Outside the United States, Roche will lead commercialization, while Nurix will receive tiered royalties ranging from the low- to high-teens.

While Roche is making efforts to further diversify its broad portfolio, the company remains a late entrant into the highly competitive obesity market, which is currently dominated by other large-cap pharma players, such as Eli Lilly LLY and Novo Nordisk NVO.

Roche’s obesity assets include enicepatide (CT-388) and petrelintide. The company presented new data from its obesity pipeline at the American Diabetes Association’s 2026 Scientific Sessions, highlighting positive phase II results for enicepatide and petrelintide. The late-breaking data showed that enicepatide demonstrated strong efficacy and a favorable safety profile, supporting its potential as a best-in-class weight-loss therapy, while petrelintide delivered promising efficacy, safety and tolerability in the phase II ZUPREME-1 study.

Roche also announced plans to launch a phase II multi-arm study in the coming months to evaluate fixed-dose combinations of enicepatide and petrelintide as a differentiated treatment for overweight and obesity.

Eli Lilly currently leads the obesity market with its tirzepatide-based dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists, Mounjaro and Zepbound.

Arch rival Novo Nordisk commands a strong position with its semaglutide-based GLP-1 therapies, Ozempic and Wegovy, used in type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Both LLY and NVO generate a major chunk of their total revenues from their respective cardiometabolic drugs.

RHHBY’s Zacks Rank

Roche currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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