Finland's Orion raises 2026 sales outlook to between 2,070 and 2,140 million euros
Key Facts
Finnish drugmaker Orion Corporation raised its full-year net sales and operating profit outlook in a statement issued on October 20, 2026, supported by royalty income. The company set its new net sales range at between 2,070 and 2,140 million euros, raising both the lower and upper ends of its annual forecast. It attributed the decision to royalty income growing faster than it had anticipated when preparing its previous estimates. It said it expected this trend to continue through year-end, underpinning its improved financial outlook for the remainder of the year. Orion is a Nordic pharmaceutical company operating globally, and the announcement concerns its pharmaceutical business and financial outlook for the current year.
According to the company's official outlook page, expected operating profit is now between 730 and 790 million euros, alongside the higher sales forecast. Orion had previously forecast net sales of between 2,000 and 2,100 million euros in its first-half report. The same report put expected operating profit for the current year as a whole at between 650 and 750 million euros. Compared with those estimates issued in July, the company raised the lower end of its profit forecast to a level within the previous range and close to its upper limit. It also lifted the upper end of the profit range above the previous ceiling, while raising both ends of the sales range compared with its midyear estimates.
The revised outlook followed growth in sales and profit in the first half of the current year compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the company's financial report. Net sales for January to June reached 939.3 million euros, compared with 771.0 million euros in the corresponding months of 2025. First-half operating profit was 291.3 million euros, up from 182.5 million euros in the comparison period. Operating profit grew faster between the periods than net sales. These results reflect performance in the opening months of the year, followed by the July outlook before the company revised its sales and profit ranges in October.
The expected increase this year follows a rise in Orion's annual net sales in 2025 to 1,889.5 million euros, according to its full-year results statement. Sales had totalled 1,542.4 million euros from January to December 2024, the period the company used for its annual comparison. Operating profit last year rose to 631.6 million euros, compared with 416.6 million euros in the comparison year. The current year's forecasts therefore exceed the previous annual results for both sales and operating profit, even at the lower end of each range. Operating profit had also grown faster than sales in that annual comparison, as it subsequently did in the first-half results.
Nubeqa played a role in the previous year's results, with Chief Executive Liisa Hurme saying a contractual milestone payment supported performance in the final quarter. The payment totalled 180 million euros and, according to her comments on the annual results, contributed to sales and operating profit growth during that period. Orion co-developed the drug with Bayer, according to Bayer's announcement on the collaboration between the companies. In an earlier development in July 2025, Investing reported that Orion shares rose 1.5% during the session after it raised its financial outlook at the time. That historical coverage linked the outlook revision to stronger-than-expected Nubeqa performance, in an event preceding the company's current announcement.
Regarding the assumptions underlying its current outlook, Orion says that "the outlook for 2026 does not include any material milestone payments." This differs from conditions in the final quarter of the previous year, when the Nubeqa-related payment contributed to sales and operating profit growth. The company's next financial milestone comes on October 28, 2026, the scheduled publication date for its January-to-September interim report. According to the results schedule announcement, the report covers the months through September, whereas the previous financial report used for comparison covered only the first half. The company said the report would be released at approximately 12.00 noon Eastern European Time.