Sanofi Raises Its 2026 Guide for a Second Time and Opens the Door to Bigger Deals

Sanofi raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the second time this year on Friday, after third-quarter sales and its preferred profit measure both beat expectations.

Sanofi reported third-quarter 2026 results on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, for the three months ended Sept. 30.

The French drugmaker reports in euros. Its American depositary shares trade in the United States under the ticker SNY.

Net sales were €14.44 billion in the quarter. Sales rose 16.2% on a reported basis and 14.3% at constant exchange rates, or CER, which strips out currency moves.

Analysts had expected net sales of €13.25 billion, the Journal reported. The reported figure beat that tally by about 9%, a TickerGrove calculation.

The business profit line beat by more

Business earnings per share is Sanofi's preferred non-IFRS profit measure. It excludes one-off items that the company separates from underlying performance.

Business EPS was €3.55 in the quarter. It rose 19.6% at CER and 22.0% at actual exchange rates, the release said.

Analysts had forecast business EPS of €2.81, according to Vara consensus estimates cited by the Journal. The reported figure cleared that forecast by a wide margin.

Business operating income was €5.43 billion, up 22.2%. Business net income was €4.26 billion, up 20.0%, the release said.

The statutory IFRS lines were lower, and they are a different measure. IFRS net income was €3.02 billion, up 7.8%, and IFRS EPS was €2.52, up 9.6%.

Free cash flow was €3.27 billion, up 9.2%. That is a reported cash figure, not a profit measure.

Dupixent did the heavy lifting

Dupixent sales were €5.7 billion in the quarter, up 34.8%. The immunology drug, developed with Regeneron, cleared €5 billion in a quarter for only the second time.

Dupixent accounted for nearly 40% of Sanofi's total sales in the quarter, the Journal reported. That concentration is the strategic problem behind the deal talk.

Sales from newer pharma launches reached €1.4 billion, up 31.4%. The release named ALTUVIIIO, Ayvakit, and Rezurock as drivers.

Vaccines went the other way. Sales fell 6.6% to €3.2 billion, which Sanofi tied to the anticipated phasing in respiratory prevention.

Research and development spending was €1.8 billion, broadly stable. Selling and general expenses were €2.3 billion, down 0.9%, reflecting cost discipline.

The pipeline added two regulatory approvals in the quarter. Sanofi also recorded one submission acceptance and two regulatory designations.

Guidance rose for the second time this year

As guidance, sales are now expected to grow by a low-teens percentage at CER in 2026. Business EPS at CER is expected to grow by a mid-teens percentage.

Previously, Sanofi had expected sales growth of 10% at constant exchange rates, Reuters reported. Its earlier profit-per-share guide was for growth slightly faster than sales.

This is the second guidance increase of the year. The prior increase came in late July, the Journal reported.

One offset sits inside the new guide. At October average exchange rates, currency is estimated to trim about 1% from both sales and business EPS.

Deals get bigger from here

"Business development and M&A will be critical to complement this transformation," Chief Executive Belen Garijo said in the release.

Garijo said the priority is protecting earnings through Dupixent's loss of exclusivity. The drug loses patent protection in the early 2030s.

Chief Financial Officer Francois-Xavier Roger told reporters the company was confident of growth through 2030 and beyond, the Journal reported.

Roger said Sanofi is considering deals larger than its historical range of 2 billion to 5 billion, Reuters reported. The focus is late-stage candidates and products already on the market.

The target areas are familiar ones: immunology, rare diseases, and vaccines. Analysts estimate Sanofi has about €20 billion of deal capacity, Reuters reported, and that figure is an analyst estimate, not a company number.

The quarter also brought an expanded Regeneron alliance, noted in the release. TickerGrove separately covered an $8 billion immunology option deal between the partners on Oct. 1.

Shares rose more than 5%

Sanofi shares rose more than 5% in European morning trading on Friday, the Journal reported. That morning-trading snapshot is the single reaction figure used here.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown is which assets Sanofi will actually pursue at the larger size. Management has stated openness to bigger deals, not named targets or timing.

Also unknown is how much of the post-Dupixent gap launches can close on their own. Vaccines declined this quarter, and the new-medicine ramp is still young.

What to watch is the strategic-review update Garijo is expected to give before year-end. Investors will also watch whether the low-teens sales guide survives the currency drag.