Merck KGaA Raises Guidance Following Strong Q2 Results

Merck KGaA reported accelerating organic sales and earnings growth in Q2 2026, led by Life Science and Electronics. Group net sales rose 3.4% year over year to €5.434 billion. Organic sales grew 4.1%, while currency effects reduced sales by 1.1% and portfolio effects added 0.4%. EBITDA pre increased 9.4% on a reported basis to €1.6 billion, with organic growth of 9.3%. The EBITDA pre margin expanded by 1.6 percentage points to 29.4%, said Group Chief Executive Officer Kai Beckmann.

Life Science organic sales increased 8% in the quarter, driven by Process Solutions' 15% growth. CEO Jean-Charles Wirth expects Process Solutions' full-year growth to land in the upper end of the company's previously cited 8% to 12% range. Its first-half book-to-bill ratio was above one.

Healthcare sales rose 2.4% to €2.2 billion, but organic sales declined 3.4%. Positive portfolio effects from the rare-disease portfolio added 5.4% to reported sales. Rare-disease products Auxilium and GOMEKLI generated combined first-half sales of €207 million, in line with company guidance.

Merck raised its 2026 guidance, expecting group organic net sales growth of 1% to 3%. It expects reported group sales of approximately €21 billion to €21.8 billion. Group EBITDA pre is now expected at €5.9 billion to €6.3 billion, up from prior guidance of €5.7 billion to €6.1 billion.