Evotec’s Two-Front War: Activist Pressure Builds as Q1 Results Loom

Evotec faces a pivotal Q1 report amid activist pressure for a spin-off, a €75M cost-cutting plan, and a $100M cash injection from Gilead. Shareholder vote looms.

The clock is ticking on multiple fronts for Evotec. On May 6, the Hamburg-based biotech group will release its first-quarter results for 2026, and the stakes could hardly be higher. The company is navigating a sweeping internal restructuring while simultaneously fending off an increasingly assertive activist investor who believes a single division is worth more than the entire group.

MAK Capital, which has built a roughly 7% stake in Evotec, is pushing hard for a spin-off of the US-based subsidiary Just-Evotec Biologics. The hedge fund’s logic is stark: it values the biologics unit at over €1 billion, while the entire Evotec group currently commands a market capitalisation of around €796 million to €950 million, depending on the day’s trading. The disparity is fuelled by a sharp divergence in performance — the core business saw revenues slide 13% and slipped into the red operationally, while the biologics segment grew roughly 40% and delivered a positive operating contribution of around €53 million.

Management, however, is not backing down. The board has placed its bets on the internal “Horizon” programme, a cost-cutting drive targeting annual savings of €75 million by the end of 2027. The plan involves slashing up to 800 jobs and consolidating operations to ten global sites. But the first tangible efficiency gains are not expected until the second half of 2026, leaving the Q1 report as more of a progress check than a turning point.

The battle lines are also being drawn in the boardroom. MAK Capital has nominated Wolfgang Hofmann as its candidate for the supervisory board, while the current board is backing Dieter Weinand, a former Bayer executive, to take the chair and defend the restructuring path. The showdown comes to a head at the annual general meeting on June 11, where shareholders will vote on the supervisory board composition — a decision that will effectively determine whether Evotec stays the course on internal reform or is forced toward a breakup.

Financial breathing room has arrived from an unexpected quarter. Gilead Sciences is acquiring Evotec’s stake in Tubulis, with an upfront payment of roughly $100 million expected in the second quarter, plus potential milestone payments of up to $58 million. That cash injection, layered on top of existing liquidity in the triple-digit millions, provides a cushion for the restructuring effort.

Analyst opinion remains deeply divided. RBC Capital Markets sees the stock climbing to €10.00 and rates it a buy, while Deutsche Bank holds a fair value of €4.50 — below the current share price of around €5.14. Berenberg Bank sits in between with a target of €9.70, though it does not expect Evotec to return to profitability until next year.

For now, all eyes are on May 6. The Q1 numbers will offer the first measurable evidence of whether Horizon is gaining traction — and whether MAK Capital’s argument for a split is gaining ground.