2025-05-07 13:30Investment Rating - The report rates the pharmaceutical industry as "Outperform" [1] - Sub-industry ratings include "Add" for pharmaceutical manufacturing and pharmaceutical services [1] Core Insights - The report is optimistic about innovative drugs, CXO, and strong consumer performance in Q1 2025 [5][27] - In April 2025, the pharmaceutical sector performed similarly to the market, with the SHCOMP index down 1.7% and SW Pharma Bio down 2.1%, ranking 11th among Shenwan primary industries [9][28] - The premium of the pharmaceutical sector over all A-Shares is currently at a normal level of 81.01% [18][28] Summary by Sections 1. Focus on Innovative Drugs and CXO - Key A-share stocks recommended include Jiangsu Heng Rui Medicine, Betta Pharmaceuticals, Shenzhen Salubris Pharmaceuticals, Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical, Remegen, Huadong Medicine, WuXi AppTec, APT Medical, and AIER EYE HOSPITAL GROUP [5][27] - H-share top picks include Wuxi Biologics Cayman, PATEO, Innovent Biologics, and Zai Lab, with beneficiaries being CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, Gushengtang, and Angelalign [27] 2. April 2025 Pharmaceutical Sector Performance - The pharmaceutical sector's performance was on par with the market, with notable sub-sectors being chemical preparations (+2.8%), pharmaceutical commerce (+1.5%), and chemical raw materials (+0.7%) [12][28] - Top gainers included Apichope Pharmaceutical (+56.2%), Qianjiang Yongan Pharmaceutical (+55.9%), and Kexing Biopharm Co., Ltd. (+55.2%), while top losers were Hainan Poly Pharm (-71.9%), Landfar Bio-Medicine Co., Ltd (-40.0%), and Jiangsu Wuzhong Industrial (-39.5%) [17][28] 3. Performance Disparities in 2024 and Q1 2025 - In 2024, the pharmaceutical sector's overall revenue fell by 1.5% YoY, and net profit decreased by 12.5% YoY, with medical consumables, chemical preparations, and blood products showing positive growth [22][28] - In Q1 2025, the sector's revenue fell by 6.1% YoY, and net profit fell by 9.7% YoY, with medical R&D outsourcing, consumables, and hospitals performing well [22][28] 4. Profitability Metrics - The gross profit margin (GPM) for the pharmaceutical sector fell by 0.5pp YoY in 2024, while the net profit margin (NPM) fell by 0.8pp YoY [24][28] - In Q1 2025, GPM decreased by 1.6pp YoY, and NPM decreased by 0.4pp YoY, with medical R&D outsourcing showing improvements in both GPM and NPM [24][28]