Shares at a glance: Bayer celebrates stock market mathematics that shareholders should know

After a costly poison pill acquired over a decade ago, there is a lot of good news from the life sciences group. But there is still a long way to go before old course records.

A big winner may already be emerging for the calendar year 2026: With a price increase of more than 100 percent in the past twelve months, Bayer is by far the strongest stock in the Dax and Euro Stoxx 50. Since the beginning of 2025, the price has almost tripled.

Nevertheless, there is still a lot missing from the all-time high. On April 10, 2015, investors paid up to 145.80 euros for one Bayer share. At that time, the life science company was Germany's most valuable group.

The takeover of the American seed and pesticide manufacturer Monsanto, which was controversial from the start, for a purchase price of 63 billion dollars was intended to make the company a large global corporation, but had the opposite effect. From the perspective of investors, Bayer bought a poison pill in the form of an unprecedented wave of lawsuits in the USA with the weed killer glyphosate produced by Monsanto.

In the following decade, the share fell by up to 87 percent to 18.85 euros. Since then it has risen by more than 200 percent, but it is still almost 160 percent short of the old record high.

A stock that once fell 87 percent, like Bayer, must rise 673.5 percent to regain its original level. This is stock market mathematics that shareholders should know at the latest when prices start to slide.

Bayer raises annual targets

There is a lot of good news contributing to the good run of stocks. The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved Bayer's new stroke drug Asundexian, thereby securing one of the company's most important growth drivers. The USA is the group's largest and fastest-growing pharmaceutical market.

The Chinese Medicines Agency had previously approved the drug in an accelerated testing process. Now the only thing missing is the European approval authorities, but they will take a little longer.

Bayer used the presentation of its nine-month figures to raise its annual targets. In the first three quarters, Bayer earned a net amount of 5.2 billion euros, after one billion euros in the same period last year.

Pharma

Bayer gets the green light for stroke medication

New drugs such as the cancer drug Nubeqa and the kidney drug Kerendia provided a strong boost in earnings. Nubeqa alone contributed sales of around one billion euros in the third quarter. This cushions expected sales losses due to expired patents on older products, such as the anticoagulant Xarelto.

CEO Bill Anderson, who took over the top job in June 2023, is realigning Bayer. The group has cut 12,000 jobs in the three divisions of agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals and non-prescription health products (consumer health). Hierarchies are being reduced to simplify and speed up decision-making processes.

Monsanto lawsuit wave could be settled

The all-clear signal appears in the company's largest construction site. Namely the wave of lawsuits following the purchase of the controversial US seed and pesticide manufacturer Monsanto more than ten years ago. Sufferers blame the weed killer glyphosate for their cancer and are demanding billions in damages.

The group recently won a groundbreaking lawsuit. Plaintiffs can no longer rely on the fact that Monsanto did not warn about possible cancer risks. The ruling is likely to lead to more plaintiffs accepting the out-of-court settlement offered by Bayer. The group has provided $7.25 billion for this purpose.

At the increased price level, 16 of a total of 21 analysts who continuously monitor the company recommend buying the share, and two recommend selling it. One argument to buy is that the share is not yet expensive despite the sharp rise in price.

With a price-earnings ratio (P/E) of 19 based on analysts' average expected net profits for the next four quarters, Bayer shares are no longer cheap, but are still cheaper than most competitors. The stocks in the global industry index MSCI World Healthcare are valued at an average price-earnings ratio of 23.