We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Bayer Shares Jump as Supreme Court Agrees to Review Key Roundup Case
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
Bayer shares rose 6.41% on Jan. 19, after the Supreme Court agreed to review the Durnell Roundup case.
The Court will review federal preemption after Monsanto cited a split and won backing from Solicitor General.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, BAYRY reserved $7.6 billion for glyphosate litigation as thousands of claims persist.
Shares of Bayer AG (BAYRY - Free Report) gained 6.41% on Jan. 19, after the company announced that the Supreme Court agreed to review the Durnell Roundup case.
Bayer acquired Roundup weedkiller through Monsanto’s buyout in 2018. However, several lawsuits have been filed by people for the same, alleging that Monsanto’s herbicide caused them to develop cancer. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller.
It has also been alleged that people were not made aware of the cancer risks by either Monsanto or Bayer.
The Supreme Court agreed to consider Monsanto’s petition addressing a split among federal circuit courts on the application of federal preemption — an issue central to ongoing Roundup litigation. Monsanto filed its petition in April 2025. A decision on the merits is expected during the 2026 term, which concludes in June.
The Supreme Court previously sought the views of the Solicitor General, who, in a December brief on behalf of the U.S. government supported review of the case, urged resolution of the circuit split and advocated a ruling in the company’s favor.
Solicitor General John Sauer warned that allowing the Durnell ruling to stand would permit juries to override the expert scientific determinations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), which has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans and has approved Roundup labels without cancer warnings.
The Solicitor General further cited prior Supreme Court precedent, cautioning that manufacturers should not be subject to “50 different labeling regimes” when the EPA has already specified required health warnings under federal law.
In its petition, Monsanto argued that conflicting rulings among federal appellate courts necessitate Supreme Court intervention.
The Durnell case was tried in October 2023 in the Missouri Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis, where the jury found in favor of the plaintiff on one of three claims, awarding $1.25 million in damages for failure to warn, while rejecting all other claims and declining to award punitive damages. Monsanto appealed the verdict in August 2024, and the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, upheld the decision in February 2025. After the Missouri Supreme Court declined review on April 1, Monsanto filed its petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court three days later.
More on BAYRY’s Roundup Litigation
Numerous lawsuits have been filed in the United States by plaintiffs alleging exposure to glyphosate-based products produced by Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer.
As of Oct. 15, 2025, a total of 28 Roundup-related trials were concluded across federal and state courts in California, Missouri, Oregon, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Monsanto secured favorable outcomes in 17 of these cases, including 13 defense verdicts, while plaintiffs were awarded compensatory damages in the remaining trials.
However, one of the 13 defense verdicts was overturned by an appellate court in 2024, and the case is scheduled for retrial in the second quarter of 2026.
Bayer has incurred significant litigation costs due to these lawsuits. As of Oct. 15, 2025, roughly 132,000 of the nearly 197,000 claims had been resolved, either through settlement or by being deemed ineligible.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Bayer reserved $7.6 billion (€6.5 billion) for glyphosate litigation, including adjustments for possible settlements of first-instance verdicts currently on appeal or in post-trial review.
Bayer’s Recent Performance Impressive
Shares have skyrocketed 138.5% over the past year compared with the industry’s gain of 24.1%. The stupendous performance can be attributed new drug approvals, encouraging pipeline progress, improved performance of the Crop Science business and positive updates on the ongoing litigations.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bayer’s new products, such as prostate cancer drug Nubeqa and kidney disease drug Kerendia (finerenone), continue to maintain their impressive momentum in the Pharmaceutical division and offset the negative impact of a decline in Xarelto sales.
The strong performance of these drugs makes up for the decline in sales of oral anticoagulant Xarelto, which is co-developed with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) .
Xarelto is marketed by Johnson & Johnson in the United States. Bayer earns license revenues from JNJ for Xarelto sales in the United States.
Eylea sales continue to face pressure from generics; however, the introduction of Eylea 8 mg, with its extended dosing intervals, has partially offset the decline and supported overall performance.
Please note that Bayer’s HealthCare unit co-develops Eylea with Regeneron (REGN - Free Report) , which records net product sales of Eylea in the United States. BAYRY records net product sales of Eylea outside the country. REGN records its share of profits/losses in connection with the sales of Eylea outside the United States.
Meanwhile, Bayer recently obtained FDA approval of elinzanetant for the treatment of moderate to severe menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS, also known as hot flashes) under the brand name Lynkuet.
The drug was also approved by the European Commission. The approval of elinzanetant is a significant boost for the company.
The FDA recently granted accelerated approval to Hyrnuo (sevabertinib) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 tyrosine kinase domain activating mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, and who have received a prior systemic therapy.
Label expansion of key drugs and approval of additional drugs will further boost sales from this business.
Image: Bigstock
Bayer Shares Jump as Supreme Court Agrees to Review Key Roundup Case
Key Takeaways
Shares of Bayer AG (BAYRY - Free Report) gained 6.41% on Jan. 19, after the company announced that the Supreme Court agreed to review the Durnell Roundup case.
Bayer acquired Roundup weedkiller through Monsanto’s buyout in 2018. However, several lawsuits have been filed by people for the same, alleging that Monsanto’s herbicide caused them to develop cancer. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup weedkiller.
It has also been alleged that people were not made aware of the cancer risks by either Monsanto or Bayer.
The Supreme Court agreed to consider Monsanto’s petition addressing a split among federal circuit courts on the application of federal preemption — an issue central to ongoing Roundup litigation. Monsanto filed its petition in April 2025. A decision on the merits is expected during the 2026 term, which concludes in June.
The Supreme Court previously sought the views of the Solicitor General, who, in a December brief on behalf of the U.S. government supported review of the case, urged resolution of the circuit split and advocated a ruling in the company’s favor.
Solicitor General John Sauer warned that allowing the Durnell ruling to stand would permit juries to override the expert scientific determinations of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), which has repeatedly concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans and has approved Roundup labels without cancer warnings.
The Solicitor General further cited prior Supreme Court precedent, cautioning that manufacturers should not be subject to “50 different labeling regimes” when the EPA has already specified required health warnings under federal law.
In its petition, Monsanto argued that conflicting rulings among federal appellate courts necessitate Supreme Court intervention.
The Durnell case was tried in October 2023 in the Missouri Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis, where the jury found in favor of the plaintiff on one of three claims, awarding $1.25 million in damages for failure to warn, while rejecting all other claims and declining to award punitive damages. Monsanto appealed the verdict in August 2024, and the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, upheld the decision in February 2025. After the Missouri Supreme Court declined review on April 1, Monsanto filed its petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court three days later.
More on BAYRY’s Roundup Litigation
Numerous lawsuits have been filed in the United States by plaintiffs alleging exposure to glyphosate-based products produced by Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer.
As of Oct. 15, 2025, a total of 28 Roundup-related trials were concluded across federal and state courts in California, Missouri, Oregon, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Monsanto secured favorable outcomes in 17 of these cases, including 13 defense verdicts, while plaintiffs were awarded compensatory damages in the remaining trials.
However, one of the 13 defense verdicts was overturned by an appellate court in 2024, and the case is scheduled for retrial in the second quarter of 2026.
Bayer has incurred significant litigation costs due to these lawsuits. As of Oct. 15, 2025, roughly 132,000 of the nearly 197,000 claims had been resolved, either through settlement or by being deemed ineligible.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, Bayer reserved $7.6 billion (€6.5 billion) for glyphosate litigation, including adjustments for possible settlements of first-instance verdicts currently on appeal or in post-trial review.
Bayer’s Recent Performance Impressive
Shares have skyrocketed 138.5% over the past year compared with the industry’s gain of 24.1%. The stupendous performance can be attributed new drug approvals, encouraging pipeline progress, improved performance of the Crop Science business and positive updates on the ongoing litigations.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Bayer’s new products, such as prostate cancer drug Nubeqa and kidney disease drug Kerendia (finerenone), continue to maintain their impressive momentum in the Pharmaceutical division and offset the negative impact of a decline in Xarelto sales.
The strong performance of these drugs makes up for the decline in sales of oral anticoagulant Xarelto, which is co-developed with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) .
Xarelto is marketed by Johnson & Johnson in the United States. Bayer earns license revenues from JNJ for Xarelto sales in the United States.
Eylea sales continue to face pressure from generics; however, the introduction of Eylea 8 mg, with its extended dosing intervals, has partially offset the decline and supported overall performance.
Please note that Bayer’s HealthCare unit co-develops Eylea with Regeneron (REGN - Free Report) , which records net product sales of Eylea in the United States. BAYRY records net product sales of Eylea outside the country. REGN records its share of profits/losses in connection with the sales of Eylea outside the United States.
Meanwhile, Bayer recently obtained FDA approval of elinzanetant for the treatment of moderate to severe menopause-related vasomotor symptoms (VMS, also known as hot flashes) under the brand name Lynkuet.
The drug was also approved by the European Commission. The approval of elinzanetant is a significant boost for the company.
The FDA recently granted accelerated approval to Hyrnuo (sevabertinib) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 tyrosine kinase domain activating mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, and who have received a prior systemic therapy.
Label expansion of key drugs and approval of additional drugs will further boost sales from this business.
BAYRY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.