药明康德：季报点评：业绩改善，在手订单快速增长

Investment Rating - The report assigns an "Accumulate" rating for the company, indicating a potential increase of 5% to 15% relative to the CSI 300 index over the next six months [35]. Core Insights - The company, WuXi AppTec, established in December 2000, provides integrated drug development and manufacturing services to global pharmaceutical, life sciences, and medical device companies. Its main business segments include chemistry, testing, biology, high-end therapeutic CTDMO, and domestic new drug development services [17]. - In the first three quarters of 2024, the company reported revenue of 27.702 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 6.23%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 6.533 billion yuan, down 19.11%. Adjusted non-IFRS net profit was 7.346 billion yuan, a decrease of 10.05% compared to the previous year [18]. - The company has seen a significant increase in active customers, with over 800 new clients added in the first three quarters of 2024, bringing the total active customer count to over 6,000. The backlog of orders reached 43.82 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.2% [19]. Financial Performance - The comprehensive gross margin for the first three quarters of 2024 was 40.65%, slightly down by 0.65 percentage points year-on-year. The net profit margin was 23.83%, down 3.75 percentage points from the previous year [18]. - The revenue distribution by region shows that the U.S. accounted for 176.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.6%, while Europe generated 35.3 billion yuan, up 14.8%. In contrast, revenue from China was 51.6 billion yuan, down 3.9% [19]. - The chemistry business remains the primary revenue and profit source, contributing 72.31% of total revenue and 78.18% of gross profit in 2023 [19]. Business Segments - The testing business, the second-largest segment, generated revenue of 4.62 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2024, a decline of 4.9% year-on-year. The adjusted non-IFRS gross margin for this segment was 34.6%, down 4 percentage points from the previous year [24]. - The biology segment reported revenue of 1.83 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.6% year-on-year, with an adjusted non-IFRS gross margin of 38% [24]. - The high-end therapeutic CTDMO business saw revenue of 850 million yuan, down 17% year-on-year, with a negative adjusted non-IFRS gross margin of -29.7% [25]. Earnings Forecast - The company is projected to achieve earnings per share of 3.16 yuan, 3.49 yuan, and 3.83 yuan for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, respectively. The corresponding dynamic price-to-earnings ratios are expected to be 16.74, 15.17, and 13.80 [25].