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Author bio
Samantha Menzies is a writer and editor with close to 20 years' experience covering finance, investing, business and property in Australia and the UK. She has held senior editorial roles at Yahoo Finance Australia and written for leading financial publications including The Motley Fool Australia, InvestorDaily, IFA, KangaNews and Euromoney Institutional Investor.
Samantha specialises in Australian and global share markets, personal finance, investing tips, business, property and economic news. As a freelance writer, she helps businesses and professionals communicate complex financial topics with clarity, accuracy and impact through high-quality editorial content.
Areas of expertise
Australian and global share markets
Personal finance
Investing tips
Business, property and economic news
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Nottingham Trent University
Social media
LinkedIn
Favorite investment quote
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
— Warren Buffett
Published
CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) shares have had a tough ride over the past couple of years.
The shares were relatively stable, mostly trading between $250 and $300 between late-2019 until around August last year.
Then they crashed.
Between mid-August to late-May this year, CSL shares shed around 64% of their value. On the 3rd of June, the shares closed at an 11-year low of just $92.24 a piece.
The good news is that since hitting that low, the shares have rebounded around 113% at the time of writing, to $196.91.
Some are now incredibly bullish that the company can keep climbing higher, but some more reserved market experts think there is potential for another tumble ahead.
I decided to look at both the bull and the bear case for CSL shares, and came up with my own conclusion.
Here's what I found.
Image source: Getty Images
The bull case for CSL shares
CSL has an incredibly dominant market position in a high-growth market. The global biotechnology company develops and delivers biotherapies and vaccines to support people with life-threatening medical conditions.
Its plasma therapies business (CSL Behring) is a major powerhouse in the global plasma market. Alongside competitors Grifols and Takeda, the three businesses control around 80% of the global plasma therapy market.
Then its CSL Seqirus business is the world's second-largest influenza vaccine manufacturer.
And its CSL Vifor business is a global leader in iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia therapies.
Its position could well grow stronger, too. There will also be an ongoing need for immunoglobulin, influenza vaccines, and plasma therapies, and CSL is well-placed to scoop up a lot of that demand.
The company is undergoing an aggressive cost-savings and restructuring plan. In FY26, the company delivered US$176 million in pre-tax savings, which was well ahead of schedule, with more in the works. CSL is aiming to achieve around US$500 million to US$550 million in annual pre-tax savings by late FY28.
For FY27, the company is guiding a return to growth, including a 5% increase in underlying NPAT, which signals an operational turnaround and bottom line recovery for a once struggling business.
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