Sydney, March 19, 2026, 10:50 AEDT
CSL Ltd bought back another 74,167 shares on March 18, but the stock still closed down 2.23% at A$138.00 as investors absorbed a fresh warning that its hemophilia B gene therapy HEMGENIX is in temporary global shortage. 1
The update matters because it lands barely five weeks after CSL shocked investors with an 81% drop in first-half profit, heavy impairments and the abrupt retirement of chief executive Paul McKenzie, a mix that sent the shares to an eight-year low. At A$138.00, the stock is about 49% below its 12-month high of A$272.00. 2
For one of Australia’s biggest healthcare stocks, the issue now is whether capital returns can steady sentiment while interim chief Gordon Naylor tries to rebuild momentum in the core Behring plasma business and manage a weak U.S. vaccine market at Seqirus. After the February result, Naylor told analysts he was “not prepared to accept that we can’t do better.” 2
CSL said on March 17 that HEMGENIX is facing a temporary global stockout, or shortage, that will delay treatment for some patients in markets where the therapy is already sold. Dr. Deborah Long, senior vice president for medical affairs, wrote that the issue was “not related to the safety or effectiveness of HEMGENIX” and reflected the “complexity of manufacturing gene therapies.” 3
In a March 19 filing, CSL said it repurchased the 74,167 shares for A$10.3 million at prices between A$138.00 and A$141.15. Before that session, it had already bought back 4,555,483 shares for A$813.4 million under a program capped at up to US$750 million. 1
That support has not stopped a broad rerating. CSL’s stock is about 49% below its 12-month high, and the slide deepened after the company cut fiscal 2026 revenue and profit growth guidance in October and shelved the Seqirus spin-off after U.S. flu vaccination rates fell more than expected. 4
The pressure is not just CSL’s. Pfizer stopped global development and commercialization of its hemophilia B gene therapy Beqvez last year, citing soft demand, and Reuters reported in January that GSK and Sanofi had already logged lower U.S. flu-vaccine sales despite a harsher season. 5
But the buyback may not put a floor under the shares if the HEMGENIX shortage drags on or if U.S. vaccine demand weakens further. Reuters reported in January that Jefferies analyst Michael Leuchten saw “consumer reaction” to U.S. vaccine rhetoric, while Citi said after CSL’s February results that guidance left little margin for error. 6
