It has been a bit of mixed year for the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price.
Although it is beating the market and trading meaningfully higher than its 2022-low, as you can see below, it remains down almost 4% year to date.
In light of this, investors may now be wondering if its shares can bounce back in 2023.
Can CSL shares yield a high return next year?
While it is impossible to say with confidence what CSL shares will do over the next 12 months, it is worth highlighting that a number of brokers believe they could rise strongly.
For example, earlier this month, the team at Macquarie put an outperform rating and $343.00 price target on the biotherapeutics giant's shares.
Based on its current share price of $285.33, this implies potential upside of 20% for investors over the next 12 months. Macquarie also expects a modest 1.2% dividend yield next year, stretching the total potential return beyond 21%.
Its analysts are positive on the outlook of the key CSL Behring business and highlight the robust demand for the flu vaccines manufactured by its Seqirus business.
Elsewhere, the team at Citi is bullish and has a buy rating and $340 price target on CSL shares.
Citi was pleased with the recent approval of the Hemgenix product in the United States, which strengthens its position in the haemophilia market.
The broker also spoke positively recently about CSL's Research and Development (R&D) pipeline, which contains a number of potentially lucrative products that will support future growth. It commented:
CSL held its annual event updating the market on its R&D programs. The R&D budget is significant at US$1.16bn in FY22 or ~11% of revenue. CSL will continue to spend ~10-11% of revenue on R&D annually. The pipeline now includes assets from recently acquired Vifor with two assets in Phase 3. Our $340 TP includes $22.40 for the R&D portfolio (down from $23 on delays) – the main asset remains CSL112 (cardiovascular) at $20/share on which we will get Phase 3 data in Q1 CY24. Maintain Buy.
All in all, the stage could be set for a decent showing from CSL shares in 2023. Time will tell if that is the case.
