Biotech company Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) reported Q3 CY2025 results topping the market’s revenue expectations, with sales up 2.8% year on year to $2.53 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $4.81 per share was 23.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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Company Overview

Founded in 1978 and pioneering treatments for some of medicine's most complex challenges, Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) develops and markets therapies for neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and rare diseases.

Revenue Growth

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Biogen’s demand was weak over the last five years as its sales fell at a 6% annual rate. This was below our standards and suggests it’s a lower quality business.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within healthcare, a half-decade historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. Biogen’s revenue over the last two years was flat, sugggesting its demand was weak but stabilized after its initial drop.

This quarter, Biogen reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 2.8% but beat Wall Street’s estimates by 8.2%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to decline by 8.3% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection doesn't excite us and indicates its products and services will face some demand challenges.

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Operating Margin

Operating margin is one of the best measures of profitability because it tells us how much money a company takes home after subtracting all core expenses, like marketing and R&D.

Biogen has been an efficient company over the last five years. It was one of the more profitable businesses in the healthcare sector, boasting an average operating margin of 23%.

Looking at the trend in its profitability, Biogen’s operating margin rose by 3.7 percentage points over the last five years. Zooming in on its more recent performance, we can see the company’s trajectory is intact as its margin has also increased by 1.9 percentage points on a two-year basis.

In Q3, Biogen generated an operating margin profit margin of 22%, up 3.1 percentage points year on year. This increase was a welcome development and shows it was more efficient.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Sadly for Biogen, its EPS declined by 13.2% annually over the last five years, more than its revenue. We can see the difference stemmed from higher interest expenses or taxes as the company actually improved its operating margin and repurchased its shares during this time.

In Q3, Biogen reported adjusted EPS of $4.81, up from $4.08 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Biogen’s full-year EPS of $16.74 to shrink by 9.3%.

Key Takeaways from Biogen’s Q3 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Biogen blew past analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also glad its EPS outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its full-year EPS guidance missed after being lowered. This is weighing on shares, and the stock traded down 4.2% to $142 immediately following the results.

Is Biogen an attractive investment opportunity right now? We think that the latest quarter is only one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.