CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) shares have had a subdued year.
As things stand, the biotechnology company's shares are on course to end the year with a 1% decline.
This compares to a gain of approximately 8% for the ASX 200 index.
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Should you buy CSL shares?
A couple of leading brokers believe that investors should be buying CSL shares at current prices.
The first is Goldman Sachs, which has a buy rating and a $309 price target on the company's shares. This implies a potential upside of 8% for investors over the next 12 months.
Goldman believes that the worst is behind the company and it is about to enter a very positive period. It said:
CSL is now entering a period of more capital-efficient growth, driving a sharp improvement in ROIC (+460bps by FY27E). This positive inflection also coincides with a period of historically-high earnings growth (+14% CAGR FY23-27E vs. +9% pre-Covid i.e. FY15-19) driven by core plasma franchise (Behring) margin recovery.
Over at Citi, its analysts are even more positive and have a buy rating and $325.00 price target on the company's shares. This suggests a potential upside of 14% for investors between now and this time next year.
Its analysts note that a recent investor day event from a rival was supportive of its bullish view on CSL's shares. It explains:
We attended Takeda's virtual Plasma-Derived Therapies (PDT) investor event. Takeda is expecting mid-to-high single digit volume growth for Immunoglobulin (Ig) over the medium-term despite the competition from FcRns – this is in-line with CSL's expectations and our forecasts. Takeda anticipates the impact of anti-FcRn to be limited to <10% of total IG market.
Takeda disclosed for the first time its plans to expand manufacturing capacity by 50% over the next 5 years, a sign of its positive outlook for Ig demand.
All in all, while 2023 has been a bit of a disappointment, all that could change in 2024 if these brokers are on the money with their recommendations.
