Phibro Animal Health Stock Climbs 59.6% YTD: What's Driving It?

Phibro Animal Health PAHC shares have surged 59.6% so far this year, demonstrating impressive momentum. The performance outpaced the industry’s 2.8% fall and the S&P 500 Composite’s 14.6% gain.

Sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present, the renowned animal health and mineral nutrition company is gaining from the ongoing momentum of its Animal Health portfolio. The company’s vaccine business continues to prosper, while its growing presence in the emerging markets also bodes well for the stock.  

New Jersey-based Phibro markets approximately 800 product lines in roughly 90 countries for food and companion animals, including poultry, swine, beef and dairy cattle, aquaculture and dogs. The company also manufactures and markets specific ingredients for use in the personal care, automotive, industrial chemical and chemical catalyst industries. Phibro’s operations presently center on the livestock sector. Additionally, it is investing in developing products for the companion animal sector.

What’s Behind PAHC’s Surge?

The rally in the company’s share price can be linked to the sustained traction in the Animal Health business. Phibro’s leading medicated feed additives (MFA) product franchise — Stafac/V-Max/Eskalin — is approved in more than 30 countries, while nutritional products like OmniGen-AF and Animate continue to gain momentum in the global dairy industry. The MFA lineup was further strengthened by the integration of Zoetis’ MFA business, bringing more than 37 established product lines marketed across approximately 80 countries, along with six manufacturing sites in the United States, Italy and China. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, MFA revenues grew 81%, supported by strong gains in nutritional specialties and vaccines.

Additionally, Phibro is focusing on new developments along with incremental registrations and growing volumes of existing vaccine technologies. Recently, it began operations at a new vaccine production facility in Guarulhos, Brazil, which manufactures and markets autogenous vaccines against animal diseases for swine, poultry and aquaculture. The company also launched new commercial vaccines and looks forward to bringing additional vaccines to the Americas. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, net sales of vaccines increased 25% year over year. Management highlighted vaccines as a key growth driver heading into fiscal 2026, supported by expanding capacity and sustained global demand.

Outside the United States, Phibro’s global footprint extends to key high-growth regions — countries where livestock production is expected to expand at rates higher than the average growth. This includes Brazil and other countries in South America, China and Southeast Asia. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, net sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa increased 44.4%, while Asia Pacific sales jumped 101.1%.

Concerns for PAHC

Phibro faces competition from a substantial and continually evolving number of global and regional competitors, as well as generic alternatives to some of its offerings. Macroeconomic impacts from geopolitical tensions, supply-chain and logistics disruptions, inflationary pressures on raw materials and energy can hurt the company’s profitability.

A Glance at PAHC’s Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Phibro’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) is expected to increase 32.1% and 6.2% year over year, respectively, to $2.76 and $2.93. In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company's fiscal 2026 EPS has risen 1.8%. 

Revenues for fiscal 2026 are projected to grow 13.1% to $1.47 billion, while those for fiscal 2027 are expected to reach $1.51 billion, implying a 2.8% increase.

Other Key Picks

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are BrightSpring Health Services BTSG, lllumina ILMN and Omnicell OMCL.

BrightSpring Health Serviceshas an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 53.3% compared with the industry’s 15.5% growth. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 45.1%. BTSG shares have surged 93.9% against the industry’s 0.1% drop in the past year.

BTSG sports a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Illumina, sporting a Zacks Rank #1, has an earnings yield of 3.7% compared to the industry’s -17.9% yield. Shares of the company have dropped 10.8% in the past year against the industry’s 9.9% growth. ILMN’s earnings outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 6.7%.

Omnicell, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), has an earnings yield of 3.9% against the industry’s -0.9% yield. Shares of the company have fallen 7.8% compared with the industry’s 2.6% decline. OMCL’s earnings surpassed estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 38.7%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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