argenx (ARGX) Q3 2026 earnings review
Vyvgart sales rise 53%, but argenx lifts its spending plan
Vyvgart keeps adding patients quickly, but argenx is now spending more than it planned. Sales of the drug rose 53% from a year ago to $1.7 billion, and 13% from the quarter before, with no one-off help. Chief executive Karen Massey called the myositis trial a step beyond neurology, and finance chief Karl Gubitz lifted the full-year spending plan.
| Vyvgart sales | $1,721M +53% from a year ago (54% at constant currency); +13% from the previous quarter |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 28.2% 30.7% a year ago; 37.0% excluding Forte deal costs |
| Profit per share, diluted | $7.80 +51% from a year ago |
| Full-year spending plan (R&D plus SG&A) | Raised to ~$4B about $430M above what the February plan implied, by our math |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better because the ALKIVIA trial gave Vyvgart a route into rheumatology, where new doctors treat a disease with no approved drug. The bad news: the spending plan now sits about $430 million above what the February plan implied, by our math, and two other late-stage trials stopped early this year.
The question now is whether argenx can keep widening its profit margin while funding many clinical programs and a rheumatology sales force. Either Vyvgart's growth stays well ahead of spending, as it did this quarter once deal costs are removed, or the 2027 plan grows close to sales and the margin stalls. Gubitz's 2027 spending figure, promised for January, will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Seronegative Label Lifts Sales 13% in One Quarter
Vyvgart treats generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), a disease that weakens muscles. In May the US label widened to seronegative gMG, patients whose blood shows none of the usual antibodies. Chief commercialization officer Sandrine Piret-Gerard said "Seronegative was a key contributor of growth this quarter" and called it "among our strongest quarters of patient growth since launch".
US sales rose 16% from the previous quarter. Most insurers dropped antibody testing from their rules, so a neurologist can now prescribe the drug to any adult gMG patient. She said "we were a bit surprised by the magnitude of that halo effect" on patients outside the new label.
- US sales: $1,471 million, up 53% from a year ago
- Seronegative insurance coverage: about 96% of covered lives, from about 55% in July
- Rest of the world sales: $158 million, up 16% from the previous quarter
This growth came without one-off help, unlike last quarter, when a change in Japanese distribution added about $25 million. Finance chief Karl Gubitz described "net pricing broadly consistent with prior quarters", so the extra sales came from more patients, not higher prices.
What to watch: US sales growth from one quarter to the next when fourth-quarter results arrive in February. A rate near this quarter's 16% would show the wider label is still adding patients rather than pulling demand forward.
Vyvgart Wins a Path Into Rheumatology Through IMNM
The ALKIVIA trial tested Vyvgart in two muscle diseases that rheumatologists treat: immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), which has no approved drug, and dermatomyositis (DM). Argenx reported "consistent and clinically meaningful treatment effects" in both and will file for IMNM approval by year-end, with the FDA's breakthrough designation to speed the review.
DM did not clear its own bar, though. Chief medical officer Luc Truyen said "we missed the primary endpoint" there, and the FDA told the company the data "needed confirmatory evidence", so a second DM trial must run before any filing. IMNM is the near-term prize: Piret-Gerard called it "a compelling growth opportunity for argenx starting in 2027".
- IMNM patients in the US: about 20,000, none with an approved therapy
- Rheumatologists likely to prescribe Vyvgart for IMNM if approved: nine in ten, per argenx's own survey
- Time from approval to insurer policies: about two quarters, chief executive Karen Massey said
This matters because rheumatologists are a new prescriber group, and argenx is still hiring the sales force for them. Piret-Gerard said the medical team is already in the field and payer talks have begun, so the CIDP launch playbook applies.
What to watch: the FDA's filing acceptance and review timetable for IMNM in the first half of 2027. A priority review would put the first rheumatology revenue inside 2027, roughly two quarters after approval once insurer policies are set.
Argenx Lines Up Five Possible Launches for 2027
Argenx says it could launch up to five products or indications in the US next year. Four involve Vyvgart. An FDA decision on children with gMG is due in February, and the ocular MG filing, for a form that affects only the eye muscles, went in this quarter. IMNM and an autoinjector for the under-the-skin version complete the four; empasiprubart for MMN is the fifth if its December trial succeeds.
This matters because each new MG indication widens the pool a neurologist can treat with one drug. Piret-Gerard said the seronegative launch showed that a wider label lifts prescribing across the whole MG franchise, and she expects the same halo from ocular MG.
What to watch: the pediatric gMG decision in February 2027. An approval on time would be the first of the five and set the review pace for the ocular and IMNM filings behind it.
🐻 Bear Case
Spending Plan Rises to $4 Billion for 2026
Argenx now expects research and selling costs together of about $4 billion this year. In February the plan was growth of about 30% on last year's spending. By our math that pointed to roughly $3.6 billion, so the new figure is about $430 million higher. Gubitz said the extra money goes to Forte deal costs, FB102, a rheumatology sales force and manufacturing for ten clinical programs.
"Revenue growth continues to outpace expense growth, demonstrating the operating leverage in our business while supporting investment for future growth," Gubitz said. That held this quarter only after removing the Forte deal: reported operating costs rose 57%, ahead of sales. The operating margin fell to 28% from 31% a year ago. Without the deal costs it would have been 37%.
- Selling, general and administrative costs: 34.7% of sales, up 4.9 points from a year ago; 26.0% without the deal costs
- Research and development: 29.2% of sales, down 2.6 points
- Fourth-quarter spending implied by the new plan: about $1.2 billion, up roughly 50% from a year ago by our math
- 2027: "please do not assume another 45% increase into 2027", Gubitz said, offering "about half of that 45%" as a placeholder
The fourth-quarter plan matters because spending growth of about 50% would almost match sales growth, which has slowed to 53%, so the margin widening Gubitz describes would pause even with no further deal costs. Most of the new money pays back only if the trials behind it succeed.
What to watch: the 2027 spending plan Gubitz promised for January. Growth near the 23% his placeholder implies, by our math, would keep the margin widening only while Vyvgart sales grow faster than that.
Two Late-Stage Vyvgart Trials Stopped Early
Argenx builds futility checks into its Phase 3 trials, a mid-study look that halts a trial unlikely to succeed. This year two Vyvgart studies stopped that way, in Sjögren's disease, an autoimmune condition that dries the eyes and mouth, and in thyroid eye disease. Massey said "we actually haven't seen the data yet" from the Sjögren's study, where "About 500 patients made it to week 24".
This matters because Sjögren's was one of the readouts behind the ten-indication target for 2030, and the slate has thinned. Of the five 2026 readouts promised a year ago, ocular MG and myositis have reported, MMN is due in December, ITP slipped into 2027 and thyroid eye disease is gone.
What to watch: argenx's analysis of the Sjögren's data, which Massey said will shape a path forward. A patient subgroup that responded would keep an FcRn option alive in the disease.
Empasiprubart Faces IVIg Head-to-Head in December
Empasiprubart, argenx's second drug candidate, blocks C2, a protein in the immune system's complement pathway. Its first Phase 3 result, in multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), a nerve disease that weakens the hands and arms, arrives in December. The trial compares it directly with IVIg, the infused antibodies that are today's standard treatment, rather than with a placebo.
The bar is non-inferiority, meaning the drug must work about as well as IVIg. Piret-Gerard said "non-inferiority versus IVIg in our MMN trial, we see that as a success", because patients would swap infusions of up to two days for a monthly dose. But Truyen said "we are not public on the actual margin", so outsiders cannot judge how far behind IVIg would still pass.
What to watch: the December result and whether argenx discloses the margin with it. A pass would give the company its first revenue line outside Vyvgart, in a disease with about 12,000 patients across its key markets.
Risks This Quarter Didn't Answer
Five standing concerns got no new numbers this quarter. Each moves only when argenx discloses the figure or a rival's data forces the point, so they stay on the list unchanged.
- Single product: Vyvgart is still all of product sales; a second revenue line waits on the December MMN result and the IMNM filing.
- Competition in gMG and CIDP: Piret-Gerard said "we don't see a slowdown of CIDP"; no rival launch data came up on the call.
- US pricing: Gubitz said gross-to-net deductions of 22% were "in line with our expectations"; Medicare negotiation exposure went unmentioned.
- Distributor concentration: three US customers were 72% of first-half sales; the third-quarter figure will appear in the year-end report.
- Patient count and CIDP share: the global figure, last given as about 19,000 at the end of 2025, is due with full-year results; it is the metric behind the 50,000 target.
👓 Other Themes
FB102 Moves to Phase 3 in Celiac Disease
Argenx bought Forte Biosciences this quarter for about $2.1 billion net of cash to get FB102, an antibody against CD122 that calms the immune cells behind celiac disease, alopecia and vitiligo. Its Phase 2 celiac result gave the "First Phase 2 evidence that CD122 can prevent gluten-induced intestinal damage", Massey called it a "potential first-in-class and best-in-class asset", and a Phase 3 trial will follow, with design details promised for January.
💲 Other KPIs
Japan sales fell 20% from the previous quarter because the second quarter carried about $25 million of one-time revenue from a distribution change. Against the underlying $77 million they rose about 5% by our math. From a year ago the rise was 35% as reported, or 47% at constant currency according to the company.
The cash tax charge keeps rising while the reported rate falls. Current tax took 24% of pre-tax profit, as in the two prior quarters, up from 13% a year ago. A $97 million deferred tax benefit, from tax assets built up in loss-making years, held the reported rate at 5.9% this quarter and 10% for nine months.
The diluted count fell 2.3% from a year ago while the basic count rose 2.2% as employees exercised options. The gap between the two has narrowed for three quarters, so future dilution from outstanding awards is shrinking. Argenx bought back no shares and has no return programme.
🔮 Guidance
Raised. The plan now has argenx spending about $4 billion on research and selling costs this year, up about 46% on 2025 by our math. That leaves roughly $1.2 billion for the fourth quarter, 9% above this quarter and about 50% above a year ago. Gubitz blamed Forte deal costs, FB102 and the ten-programme clinic; last year's plan also rose through the year.
❓ Key Questions
How many patients take Vyvgart, and what share is CIDP?
The 50,000-patient target for 2030 rests on a count last given as about 19,000 at the end of 2025. Without the number and the CIDP split, readers cannot tell whether the original gMG and CIDP pools are nearing saturation.
What did the Sjögren's data show once analysed?
Massey said about 500 patients reached week 24 but the data are not yet in hand. Whether the failure reflects the disease, the dose or the trial design matters for the Graves' disease and scleroderma studies still running.
How much did seronegative patients add to US sales?
Piret-Gerard called the label a key contributor and described a halo on other patients, but gave no dollar figure. The size decides how much of the 16% sequential US growth can repeat once the launch base is in.
How will argenx use the $3.7 billion left after Forte?
Cash fell by about $1.5 billion in the quarter on the deal, and Massey has signalled appetite for more. Investors need a size and stage range for further deals, and whether any cash return is on the table.
How large and how long is the second DM trial?
The FDA wants confirmatory evidence in dermatomyositis. The trial's size, endpoint and start date set when the second half of the myositis market could open, and how much of the raised spending plan it absorbs.