MW West Pharma's stock tanks 33% to lead S&P 500 decliners as guidance misses by a wide margin

By Ciara Linnane

Maker of packaging and delivery systems for injectable pharmaceuticals is pulling away from two customers that make glucose monitors for people with diabetes

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc.'s stock tumbled 33% Thursday, to lead S&P 500 decliners, after the manufacturer of injectable-pharmaceutical packaging and delivery systems offered guidance for 2025 that was well below expectations.

The stock (WST) was on track for its biggest-ever one-day decline, based on data going back to March 1980, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The previous record selloff was 32%, on Oct. 20, 2025. The stock is headed for its lowest close since Nov. 17, 2022, and has fallen on five of the past six days.

Exton, Pa.-based West Pharma posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, but the stock cratered on guidance for 2025 that lagged consensus by a wide margin.

The company is expecting per-share earnings for the year of $6 to $6.20, well below the $7.34 FactSet consensus. Sales are expected to range from $2.875 billion to $2.905 billion, while FactSet is expecting $3.027 billion.

The EPS guidance includes an expected headwind of 23 cents a share from the strong dollar. The company is also expecting higher incentive compensation and will spend $275 million in capex to support growth initiatives.

West Pharma is pulling away from two large customers who make next-generation continuous-glucose-monitoring devices, which are used by people with diabetes to track their blood sugar.

"We have made the decision to not participate going forward, as our financial thresholds cannot be achieved," Chief Executive Eric Green told analysts on the company's earnings call.

One customer has already started to exit, while the second is planning to do so in mid-2026. The business was profitable in the early days of the technologies, but the economics no longer work, Green said.

"We have a highly profitable core business that will bridge West through these temporary impacts," he said.

Executives highlighted the opportunity for West Pharma in the GLP-1 space, the new class of drugs used for weight loss and diabetes management led by Denmark's Novo Nordisk $(NVO)$ (DK:NOVO.B) and by Eli Lilly & Co. $(LLY)$.

West Pharma makes self-injection devices for those drugs, which currently only exist in injectable form, while companies rush to develop oral versions. West Pharma primarily provides the plungers needed by the big players, said Green.

The company has ramped up manufacturing of the devices at sites in Dublin, Ireland, and Grand Rapids, Mich.

"These revenues will increase as we achieve scale in mid-2025," Chief Financial Officer Bernard J. Birkett said. "Our experience with new installations is that they take up to 18 months to achieve close to full capacity."

By segment, sales at the company's proprietary products segment rose to $613.9 million from $593.7 million, matching the $614 million FactSet consensus.

Growth was driven by high-value products, which accounted for about 74% of sales in the period, led by self-injection devices.

Biologics saw high-single-digit organic sales growth, which excludes the impact of currency and acquisitions. The pharma market saw mid-single-digit organic sales growth, while generics fell by a mid-single-digit percent.

Sales of contract-manufactured products fell to $22.9 million from $24.7 million, below the $24 million FactSet consensus. That was due to a continued decline in sales of healthcare diagnostics devices, which were partially offset by growth in self-injection devices.

For the fourth quarter, West Pharma had net income of $130.1 million, or $1.78 a share, down from $137 million, or $1.83 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $748.8 million from $732 million.

The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.72 and sales of $740 million.

The stock has fallen 48% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 23%.

-Ciara Linnane

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February 13, 2025 13:49 ET (18:49 GMT)

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