(Reuters) -GSK raised its 2025 sales expectations on Wednesday after third-quarter results beat expectations, driven by double-digit growth in its specialty medicines, including HIV and oncology. 

The drugmaker expects revenue to increase in the range of 6%-7%, compared with an earlier forecast of 3% to 5%.

It reported core earnings per share of 55 pence on sales of 8.55 billion pounds ($11.47 billion) for the quarter ended September 30, compared with 47.1 pence on sales of 8.24 billion pounds expected by analysts in a company-compiled poll.

The third-quarter results update is CEO Emma Walmsley's last before Luke Miels takes over in early 2026 to steer the drugmaker through U.S. trade tariffs, pricing battles, and the push for new medicines to offset revenue declines as some top-selling medicines go off patent.

Investors are counting on incoming Miels to lay down the path for GSK to reach its target of more than 40 billion pounds in annual revenues by 2031. Analysts currently estimate sales of about 34 billion pounds short of the company's targets.   

($1 = 0.7451 pounds)