William Blair analyst Matt Larew has maintained their bullish stance on WST stock, giving a Buy rating on January 2.
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Matt Larew has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors related to West Pharmaceutical Services’ portfolio optimization and earnings profile. He views the sale of the SmartDose 3.5mL on-body delivery system and related facilities to AbbVie as a strategically sound move, especially since this product represented a small portion of sales yet remained margin-dilutive and operationally challenging. By exiting this specific configuration while retaining other SmartDose formats, West preserves its long-term participation in the attractive drug-delivery device market without the drag of a problematic, single-customer product line. The transaction price and expected timing also provide clarity around the financial impact, with management signaling that the deal should be modestly accretive to margins once completed.
At the same time, Larew interprets the decision as a sign of disciplined capital allocation and sharpened strategic focus, which he believes will improve the company’s overall growth and profitability profile. Resolving the uncertainty around SmartDose 3.5mL removes a lingering overhang that had created “noise” in the story and distracted from West’s core strengths and more scalable opportunities, including larger-volume SmartDose systems. He anticipates that investors will welcome the removal of this overhang and the clearer path to higher-margin growth, supporting a constructive view on the stock. Taken together, these elements underpin his conviction that West’s risk‑reward skews positively, justifying a Buy (Outperform) recommendation.
Larew covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as AptarGroup, MaxCyte, and Danaher. According to TipRanks, Larew has an average return of -0.5% and a 52.50% success rate on recommended stocks.
In another report released on January 2, Citi also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $375.00 price target.