Shares of Sanofi SA (SNY) tumbled 5.20% in pre-market trading on Thursday, following the release of its second-quarter earnings report that fell short of analyst expectations. The French pharmaceutical giant's results revealed a mixed picture, with lower-than-anticipated profits overshadowing an upgraded full-year sales guidance.

Sanofi reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.90, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $0.96 by 6.15%. This represents a 3.12% decrease from the same period last year. The company's quarterly sales of $11.33 billion also fell short of expectations, coming in 1.72% below the projected $11.53 billion. The disappointing figures were primarily attributed to increased spending on research and development as Sanofi invests heavily in developing new treatments.

Despite the earnings miss, Sanofi raised its full-year sales growth forecast to a high single-digit percentage at constant exchange rates, representing the top end of its previous guidance range. However, this positive outlook was overshadowed by higher costs, including increased selling, general and administrative expenses, and higher-than-anticipated payments related to its blockbuster drug Dupixent. Chief Financial Officer François-Xavier Roger assured investors that the company remains on track to meet its earnings per share growth targets for the year, attributing the lower-than-expected Q2 earnings to a one-time item related to a milestone payment received last year.