WuXi AppTec made 19 billion yuan, with 5,836 fewer technical staff, and R&D investment has decreased for three consecutive years.

(Source: Caixin)

In Q4 2025, eight of the company’s top ten shareholders reduced their holdings.

On March 24, WuXi AppTec (603259.SH) opened high, and as of the latest report, the stock was at 91.8 yuan per share, up 4.57%. The previous day, WuXi AppTec disclosed its latest annual report, highlighting growth in its highly anticipated U.S. business, with downstream TIDES (oligonucleotides and peptides) maintaining strong growth amid continued industry prosperity. However, the company also reduced its employee count; nearly all of the top ten shareholders decreased their holdings in Q4 2025.

Regarding performance, WuXi AppTec achieved revenue of 45.456 billion yuan in 2025, a year-over-year increase of 15.84%. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 19.151 billion yuan, up 102.65% YoY. Non-recurring net profit was 13.241 billion yuan, up 32.56%. Adjusted operating cash flow for 2025 was 16.67 billion yuan, a 39.1% increase.

In 2025, WuXi AppTec sold its clinical research service business, including Shanghai Kant Honyi Medical Clinical Research Co., Ltd.

Excluding the sold business, revenue from continuing operations was 43.42 billion yuan.

Since the U.S. biosecurity law incident in 2024, WuXi AppTec’s overseas business has attracted particular attention. 2025 was its first full fiscal year affected by this event. The annual report shows that revenue from U.S. clients reached 31.25 billion yuan, a 34.3% increase YoY, accounting for about 72% of total revenue, up from 64% in 2024.

In terms of revenue contribution, the next largest source was Chinese clients, with revenue of 5.47 billion yuan, down 3.5%, accounting for 13%. European clients contributed 4.82 billion yuan, down 4.0%. Other regions contributed 1.88 billion yuan, up 4.1%.

As of the end of 2025, WuXi AppTec’s ongoing business backlog was 58 billion yuan, a 28.8% YoY increase. As of the end of Q3 2025, excluding the Q4 sale of the business, the backlog was 56.26 billion yuan, up 41.4% YoY. Based on this, year-end orders only slightly increased quarter-over-quarter, with a slowdown in YoY growth.

Source: WuXi AppTec official presentation materials

In terms of revenue structure, the four main segments contributed: chemical business 36.47 billion yuan, testing 4.04 billion yuan, biology 2.68 billion yuan, and others.

According to WuXi AppTec’s 2025 annual report, the largest segment, chemical business, includes small molecule drug discovery (“R” for Research). In 2025, the company successfully synthesized and delivered over 420,000 new compounds for clients, a decrease from the previous quarter and last year. In Q3, the company reported over 430,000 compounds synthesized and delivered in the past 12 months, and in 2024, over 460,000 compounds.

Small molecule process R&D and manufacturing (“D” and “M”) revenue was 19.92 billion yuan, up 11.4%. In 2025, the small molecule D&M pipeline added 839 new molecules, reaching a total of 3,452 by year-end.

The number of new molecules also decreased compared to 2024, which added 1,187 molecules that year, with a total of 3,377 molecules at the end of 2024.

Benefiting from high demand for GLP-1 drugs, the TIDES (oligonucleotides and peptides) business showed strong growth. As disclosed, with capacity ramping up quarterly in 2024, TIDES revenue in 2025 reached 11.37 billion yuan, up 96.0% YoY. As of the end of 2025, TIDES backlog increased by 20.2% YoY.

Additionally, WuXi AppTec announced that in September 2025, it completed the capacity expansion for Tiexing peptides. The overall volume of peptide solid-phase synthesis reactors has increased to over 100,000 liters, indicating further capacity growth potential.

The company also provided guidance for 2026, expecting total revenue of 51.3 to 53 billion yuan, with ongoing business revenue growing 18%–22% YoY. WuXi AppTec will focus more on its core CRDMO strategy, accelerate globalization, and increase capacity deployment to improve operational efficiency.

Furthermore, the company plans to accelerate global capacity expansion, with capital expenditure expected to reach 6.5 to 7.5 billion yuan in 2026. With business growth and efficiency improvements, adjusted free cash flow is projected to reach 10.5 to 11.5 billion yuan in 2026. In 2025, capital expenditure was 5.54 billion yuan, and adjusted operating cash flow was 16.67 billion yuan.

Recent capital expenditure and cash flow trends are shown in WuXi AppTec’s official presentation materials.

Despite increased capital spending, WuXi AppTec’s employee count decreased in 2025. As of the end of 2025, the company employed 33,834 staff, down 14% from 39,414 at the end of 2024. By category, production staff increased by 865, while sales, technical, finance, and administrative staff decreased. Technical staff decreased by 5,836, nearly 18%, the largest reduction; administrative staff decreased by 565 to 2,126, a 21% drop. The company noted that the proportion of R&D personnel declined due to divestment of some businesses.

The R&D expenses also shrank. In 2025, R&D expenses were 1.119 billion yuan, down 9.61% YoY, marking the third consecutive year of decline.

Additionally, major shareholder reductions have long been a concern for WuXi AppTec investors. The annual report shows that at the end of 2025, eight of the top ten shareholders reduced their holdings compared to Q3 2025, including five who are concerted parties of the actual controllers.

Source: Tonghuashun iFinD

Regarding dividends, WuXi AppTec plans to distribute a cash dividend of 15.7927 yuan per 10 shares (tax included), totaling 4.712 billion yuan. Besides annual and interim dividends, the company also completed a special dividend in May 2025, with total cash dividends for 2025 amounting to 6.755 billion yuan. After considering share repurchases, total cash dividends and cancellations amount to 8.755 billion yuan, representing 45.72% of net profit attributable to shareholders.

On March 23, during trading, WuXi AppTec’s stock briefly fell over 4%, closing at 87.79 yuan per share, down 3.42%, near its lowest point in nearly half a year at 87.09 yuan per share.