Barclays downgrades UCB after rally, sees limited upside

UCB SA

Yesterday 07:59

** Barclays downgrades Belgian biopharma group UCB UCB.BR to "equal weight" from "overweight", seeing limited upside in the year ahead
** Broker says stronger-than-expected Bimzelx TRx trends support modest sales upgrades, but higher R&D and business development spending are expected to weigh on EBITDA and earnings growth
** It cuts full-year 2026-2029 EBITDA forecasts, noting recent acquisitions, including Neurona, Candid Therapeutics and Antengene, increase exposure to early-stage assets, but sees no launches from these products likely before 2030
** "Given recent share strength (+14.4% over one month), limited upside catalysts pre-FY28, and rising sentiment risks over the next 12 months until FY28, we downgrade UCB to Equal Weight"
** Barclays says UCB could still narrow its full-year 2026 guidance toward the top end of its range, but this would only bring forecasts broadly in line with consensus

 (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk)
 ((nathan.vifflin@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 13;))