CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares are pushing higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) biotech stock closed yesterday trading for $249.28. In early afternoon trade on Tuesday, shares are changing hands for $249.64 apiece, up 0.1%.
It's going to take a lot more movement than that to put shares in Australia's third largest listed company back into the green for 2025, however, with CSL shares down a bit over 11% year to date.
So, following on that retrace, is the ASX 200 biotech stock a good buy today?
Should I buy CSL shares right now?
Medallion Financial Group's Philippe Bui foresees strong potential from the company in FY 2026 (courtesy of The Bull). But he's not ready to pull the trigger just yet.
"The share price of this biotechnology giant was significantly below its 12-month highs on March 27," said Bui, who has a hold recommendation on CSL shares.
"Although recent interim 2025 earnings results in February were marginally below consensus, the business still has a solid growth profile in the years ahead," he said.
According to Bui:
The main drag on the interim result was the vaccines business experiencing a decline in influenza sales. Should flu sales normalise, the company should return to double digit growth in fiscal year 2026.
What half-year results did the ASX 200 biotech share report?
CSL shares closed down 5.0% on the day after the company released its half-year results on 11 February.
That was despite CSL reporting a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue in constant currency to US$8.48 billion. And net profit after tax for the six months was up 7% in constant currency to US$2.04 billion.
As Bui pointed out, however, shares look to have come under pressure with the CSL Seqirus suffering a 9% drop in sales to US$1.66 billion amid a decline in immunisation rates.
The buy case for CSL shares
A number of brokers have a decidedly bullish outlook for CSL shares.
Bell Potter, for example, noted:
CSL sold off following the 1H25 result, weighed down by a poor Seqirus performance. However, FY25 guidance remained unchanged as Behring growth is expected to offset headwinds facing the smaller Seqirus unit.
The broker has a $335.00 price target for CSL, representing a potential upside of more than 34% from current levels.
Goldman Sachs also has a buy rating on CSL, with a price target of $318.40. That's almost 28% above the current price.
