Merck KGaA raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the third time this year on Thursday, lifting its net sales target to €21.5 billion–€21.9 billion ($24.1 billion–$24.5 billion) from the earlier €21 billion–€21.8 billion. The Darmstadt-based company now expects EBITDA excluding one-time items of €6.2 billion–€6.4 billion, up from €5.9 billion–€6.3 billion, citing stronger core operations and a boost from exchange-rate shifts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Our upgraded full-year guidance reflects our confidence" in solid performance in 2026, Chief Executive Kai Beckmann said in a statement. Beckmann took the top job in May; this is his first full-year guidance cycle at the helm.

What did the quarter deliver?

Third-quarter net sales rose to €5.6 billion from €5.3 billion a year earlier, a 5.1% organic increase that beat the €5.46 billion consensus from analysts polled by Vara Research, according to the Journal. Investors noticed. The stock climbed as much as 3.1% shortly after the Frankfurt market opened.

The earnings picture was more mixed:

• EBITDA excluding one-time items came in at €1.7 billion, up just 0.4% organically. Merck said the year-earlier quarter had benefited from several one-time effects.
• Profit after income tax fell 49.9% to €450 million.
• Full-year guidance also includes organic net sales growth of 3%–4% and earnings per share before one-time items of €8.30–€8.70.

Which businesses drove the growth?

Two units did the heavy lifting. Semiconductor Solutions, the electronics arm supplying chipmaking materials, grew 18.7% organically. Rare Diseases, anchored by treatments in the healthcare portfolio, surged 41.5%. Process Solutions, a Life Science unit serving pharma manufacturing, added 10.5% organic growth.

But there's a caution flag. The company said incoming orders suggest weaker demand for Process Solutions in the final three months of the year. The unit's momentum may not carry into the fourth quarter.

How does Mavenclad fit in?

The guidance now assumes no U.S. sales of the multiple sclerosis drug Mavenclad from November, a later cutoff than the previous assumption of August, as generic competition bites. Mavenclad sales fell 25.1% organically in the quarter. Pushing the assumption back effectively buys the company some cushion it hadn't planned for.

The plan also assumes the Bio-Techne acquisition (the U.S. life-sciences tools maker, ticker $TECH) contributes to results for December, though Merck noted the actual closing date may differ.

What's the deal strategy?

Beckmann is reshaping the portfolio quickly. Merck KGaA agreed in June to acquire Minneapolis-based Bio-Techne at an enterprise value of about $11.3 billion — his first significant deal as CEO. In October, it agreed to buy U.K. biotech Silence Therapeutics, adding the experimental polycythemia vera drug divesiran to its pipeline; that deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.

On the exit side, Merck has signed an agreement to sell its contract development and manufacturing business (the unit that makes drugs on behalf of other companies) to Lonza, with closing expected in mid-2027.

One clarification that matters: Merck KGaA is separate from U.S.-based Merck & Co. The two share a name but nothing else operationally. The German company operates across life sciences, healthcare and electronics.

The third guidance raise in a single year signals a business running ahead of its own plans. The open questions are whether semiconductor demand holds, whether Process Solutions orders soften as flagged, and how quickly the Mavenclad decline stabilizes against generics.