AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN) — Company Research

Last Updated: 25 September 2026

AstraZeneca goes into the final quarter of 2026 with a different US listing and a franchise mix in transition. Since 2 February 2026 its ordinary shares have traded directly on the New York Stock Exchange, replacing the Nasdaq American Depositary Shares. Its oncology business now brings in close to half of Total Revenue, and its largest single medicine, Farxiga, faces US generic competition that began in the second quarter. Management reconfirmed full-year guidance on 27 July 2026 and says the ambition of $80bn of revenue by 2030 is on track. Since then the late-stage pipeline has had approvals and failures in quick succession, and the Chief Executive has bought £7.26m of shares in the open market. This report sets out what the company's own results announcements, Form 20-F and regulatory news filings show. Every valuation input is shown as a calculation.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Company	AstraZeneca PLC, headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom
Ticker / exchange	AZN on the New York Stock Exchange (ordinary shares, trading since 2 February 2026), the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm. The Nasdaq ADS listing ended on 30 January 2026 and the ADR facility is closed
CEO / Leadership	Pascal Soriot (Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer); Dr Aradhana Sarin (Chief Financial Officer); Michel Demaré (Chair)
Employees	Approximately 96,100 in 2025, up from 94,300 in 2024 (Annual Report 2025)
Revenue (FY2025)	Total Revenue $58,739m, up 8.6% year on year (+8% at constant exchange rates)
Net income (FY2025)	Profit after tax $10,233m; reported diluted EPS $6.54; Core EPS $9.16
Revenue (trailing twelve months to 30 June 2026)	$61,366m
Market cap	~$255.2bn (1,550.9m shares at the $164.56 NYSE close of 24 September 2026); London price 12,430p at the same date
Dividend	$3.20 per share declared for FY2025; the Board intends $3.30 for FY2026. The first interim dividend of $1.06 was paid on 8 September 2026
Most recent reported period	H1 and Q2 2026, reported 27 July 2026. Q3 2026 results are due on 30 October 2026

Live price action for AZN and the rest of the pharmaceutical sector can be followed on the ChartsView Live Charts page.

2. Bull Case and Bear Case

Bull Case

• Oncology scale is still compounding: Oncology Total Revenue reached $25,619m in FY2025, 43.6% of the group, and rose to 46% of revenue in H1 2026. Imfinzi grew 29% to $6,063m and Enhertu 40% to $2,775m in FY2025.
• Delivery against guidance: H1 2026 Total Revenue was $30,672m, up 9% (6% at constant exchange rates), and Core EPS was $5.21, up 12%. On 27 July 2026 management reconfirmed guidance for FY2026: Total Revenue up by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage and Core EPS up by a low double-digit percentage. It also described the $80bn 2030 revenue ambition as on track.
• A productive regulatory year: 2026 has brought US approvals for Baxfendy (baxdrostat) in hypertension on 18 May, Datroway in first-line triple-negative breast cancer on 26 May and Etcamah (camizestrant) on 4 September. Tozorakimab was positive across three Phase III COPD trials. Management points to more than twenty high-value readouts over the next eighteen months.
• Insiders are buying with their own money: Pascal Soriot bought 60,000 shares at £121.02 on 14 September 2026, about £7.26m, and the Chair bought 2,500 shares on the same day. These were open-market purchases, not share-plan vestings.
• Positioned for US policy: AstraZeneca has committed $50bn to US manufacturing and R&D by 2030, including a $4.5bn Virginia plant. Its October 2025 pricing agreement with the US government carries a three-year tariff exemption. The direct NYSE listing lets US funds hold the ordinary shares.

Bear Case

• The largest product is going generic: Farxiga was the single biggest medicine at $8,405m in FY2025. US generics launched in Q2 2026, and together with Chinese volume-based procurement they pushed Farxiga revenue down 6% in H1 2026.
• Late-stage setbacks are accumulating: Wainua's CARDIO-TTRansform trial failed on 9 July 2026. eVOLVE-Lung02 for volrustomig was discontinued on 17 August. On 14 September SERENA-4 missed its progression-free survival endpoint in first-line breast cancer, which narrows camizestrant's commercial scope.
• Debt is rising with deal spending: net debt rose from $23,374m at 31 December 2025 to $26,912m at 30 June 2026. Purchases of intangible assets, mostly licensing upfronts, were $3,333m in H1 2026 alone. The company priced a $2bn bond in February and a €2.55bn bond in August.
• US pricing reform is now a margin line: the H1 2026 announcement names implementation of the US government pricing agreement as a gross-margin headwind. Farxiga was selected for Medicare negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act, and the company lost its legal challenge to that selection.
• China is both growth and legal exposure: China was 11% of FY2025 revenue at $6,654m. In February 2026 the Chinese unit and former China head Leon Wang were indicted, and dapagliflozin faces 33 patent invalidation challenges there.

3. Business Segments

AstraZeneca reports one operating segment, the discovery, development and commercialisation of medicines, but discloses Total Revenue by therapy area. The FY2025 split is below and adds to the reported total of $58,739m. By region, the United States was $25,450m (43%), Europe $12,739m (22%), Emerging Markets $15,303m (26%, of which China $6,654m) and Established Rest of World $5,247m (9%).

Segment / therapy area	% of revenue	What it is
Oncology	43.6% ($25,619m)	Tagrisso ($7,254m), Imfinzi ($6,063m), Calquence ($3,518m), Lynparza ($3,279m), Enhertu ($2,775m, alliance with Daiichi Sankyo) and Datroway
Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM)	21.9% ($12,861m)	Farxiga ($8,405m), Crestor ($1,218m) and the new hypertension medicine Baxfendy (baxdrostat)
Rare Disease	15.5% ($9,126m)	Complement-inhibitor and enzyme-replacement medicines: Ultomiris ($4,718m), Soliris ($1,837m) and Strensiq ($1,678m)
Respiratory and Immunology (R&I)	15.1% ($8,866m)	Symbicort ($2,885m), Fasenra ($1,981m), Breztri ($1,199m) and Tezspire ($1,131m)
Vaccines and Immune Therapies (V&I)	2.2% ($1,268m)	Vaccines and antibodies against respiratory infections; reported as Infectious Disease from 2026 ($312m in H1 2026)
Other medicines	1.7% ($999m)	Older primary-care and legacy brands, plus collaboration and other revenue not attributed to a therapy area

4. Business Model and Moat

How it makes money. AstraZeneca discovers or licenses molecules and takes them through clinical trials. It then sells the approved medicines to hospitals, pharmacies, insurers and state health systems worldwide. Almost all revenue is Product Sales. The rest is Alliance and Collaboration Revenue, mainly its share of Enhertu and Datroway profits with Daiichi Sankyo. Pricing is set by negotiation with payers, so the economics depend on patent life, clinical differentiation and each country's reimbursement rules.

Where the durable advantage sits. The advantage lies in how broad and how long-dated the patent-protected portfolio is. The company has a leading position in EGFR-mutated lung cancer through Tagrisso and in front-line CLL through Calquence. Its antibody-drug conjugate franchise with Daiichi Sankyo is expanding into earlier lines of breast and lung cancer. The Rare Disease unit adds complement-inhibitor medicines such as Ultomiris, which sell at high prices to small patient populations. FY2025 Core operating profit of $18,478m on $58,739m of revenue funds a large R&D budget, and the global commercial footprint turns approvals into sales quickly.

Where the model is fragile. Every medicine eventually loses exclusivity, and Farxiga shows how fast that happens. Growth depends on replacing revenue with new launches that must succeed in Phase III. Pricing is increasingly set by governments: US Medicare negotiation and the 2025 pricing agreement, and Chinese volume-based procurement. The company also funds much of its pipeline by buying licences, which adds debt and intangible assets to the balance sheet before any revenue arrives.

5. Financial Health

All figures are in US dollars and come from AstraZeneca's full-year results announcements and Form 20-F, cross-checked against the company's SEC XBRL filings. Fiscal years end on 31 December. AstraZeneca reports under IFRS; "GAAP EPS" below is reported diluted EPS, and "Adjusted EPS" is the company's Core EPS.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021	37,417	+40.6%	$0.08	$5.29	$2.87	$28,134m
FY2022	44,351	+18.5%	$2.11	$6.66	$2.90	$22,965m
FY2023	45,811	+3.3%	$3.81	$7.26	$2.90	$22,365m
FY2024	54,073	+18.0%	$4.50	$8.21	$3.10	$26,506m
FY2025	58,739	+8.6%	$6.54	$9.16	$3.20	$24,715m

† Long-term debt is non-current interest-bearing loans and borrowings at year end, per the balance sheet and the SEC XBRL LongtermBorrowings tag, excluding lease liabilities. Current interest-bearing borrowings were a further $3,104m at 31 December 2025. FY2021 revenue growth is against FY2020 Total Revenue of $26,617m; the FY2021 reported EPS of $0.08 was depressed by acquisition-related charges in that year. ‡ Core EPS is AstraZeneca's own adjusted measure. It excludes amortisation and impairment of intangibles, restructuring and certain legal and fair-value items.

Cash generation and balance sheet: FY2025 net cash from operating activities was $14,575m against purchases of property, plant and equipment of $2,810m and purchases of intangible assets of $3,095m. Depreciation, amortisation and impairment was $5,733m and reported operating profit $13,743m. In H1 2026 operating cash flow was $6,224m, PP&E purchases $1,310m and intangible purchases $3,333m, including the roughly $1.1bn CSPC obesity upfront. At 30 June 2026 cash and cash equivalents were $4,893m and other current investments $75m. Interest-bearing borrowings were $29,491m, made up of $5,808m current and $23,683m non-current, plus $2,748m of leases, leaving net debt of $26,912m.

Quarter / Half	Revenue ($m)	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
Q2 2026	15,384	$2.63	$1.61
Q1 2026	15,288	$2.58	$1.99
Q4 2025	15,503	$2.12	$1.50
Q3 2025	15,191	$2.38	$1.64
Q2 2025	14,457	$2.17	$1.58
Q1 2025	13,588	$2.49	$1.88
FY2025 total	58,739	$9.16	$6.60

Quarterly reported EPS is basic EPS as presented in the quarterly results announcements, so the FY2025 total of $6.60 is basic; the diluted figure in the annual table is $6.54. H1 2026 totals: Total Revenue $30,672m, Core EPS $5.21, reported EPS $3.60 (diluted $3.58).

Q2 2026 Total Revenue of $15,384m was 6.4% above Q2 2025. The Q2 Core EPS of $2.63 compares with $2.17 a year earlier. The lower reported EPS reflects amortisation and higher intangible charges linked to the licensing deals of the first half.

6. Valuation Metrics

Raw metrics, September 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~$255.2bn (1,550.9m ordinary shares at the $164.56 NYSE close of 24 September 2026)
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~24.6x (price $164.56 / trailing twelve-month reported diluted EPS $6.68 = FY2025 $6.54 − H1 2025 $3.44 + H1 2026 $3.58). On trailing Core EPS of $9.71 (Q3 2025 to Q2 2026) the multiple is ~16.9x
P/E (forward)	~16x (price $164.56 / ~$10.1 to $10.4 implied FY2026 Core EPS, which is FY2025 Core EPS of $9.16 grown at the low-double-digit percentage guided on 27 July 2026 at constant exchange rates). This is a company-guidance calculation, not a consensus estimate
P/S (TTM)	~4.2x (market cap $255.2bn / trailing Total Revenue $61.37bn)
Enterprise value	~$279.7bn (market cap $255.2bn + interest-bearing borrowings $29.5bn − cash and current investments $5.0bn, per the 30 June 2026 balance sheet). Including $2.7bn of lease liabilities would give ~$282.4bn
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	~13.8x (EV $279.7bn / EBITDA $20.33bn; EBITDA = trailing reported operating profit $13.97bn + depreciation, amortisation and impairment $6.36bn, on the wider cash-flow-statement basis that includes impairment)
P/FCF	~23.9x (market cap $255.2bn / free cash flow $10.67bn; FCF = trailing operating cash flow $13.70bn − PP&E purchases $3.03bn). If trailing intangible purchases of $4.62bn, mostly licensing upfronts, are also deducted, FCF is $6.04bn and the multiple is ~42x
Dividend yield	~1.9% on the $3.20 FY2025 dividend; ~2.0% on the intended $3.30 for FY2026
52-week high	$212.71 (February 2026, NYSE; London high 15,732p on 18 February 2026)
52-week low	$145.80 (September 2025). US prices before 2 February 2026 are former ADS prices restated to one ordinary share, since two ADSs equalled one share
Short interest (% of float)	0.13% of float, being 2,087,754 shares short at the 15 September 2026 settlement date (2,895,178 shares at 31 August 2026)
Days to cover	~0.7 days at the 15 September 2026 settlement date

The gap between reported and Core earnings is the most important thing in this table. Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles puts about $3 per share between the two EPS lines. Which figure a reader relies on largely decides whether the shares look like a high-teens or a mid-twenties multiple.

7. What Are They Building

Cardiovascular and metabolic. Baxfendy (baxdrostat), the first aldosterone synthase inhibitor for hypertension, was approved in the US on 18 May 2026. The oral PCSK9 inhibitor laroprovstat (AZD0780) is in the Phase III AZURE programme, while Merck's oral PCSK9 competitor was approved in July 2026. In obesity, the oral GLP-1 elecoglipron produced 10.5% weight loss at 26 weeks and 11.8% at 36 weeks in the Phase IIb VISTA study presented at ADA in June 2026. A once-monthly injectable portfolio licensed from CSPC in January 2026 cost $1.2bn upfront, with up to $3.5bn in milestones.

Oncology. Datroway gained US approval in first-line triple-negative breast cancer on 26 May 2026 and EU approval on 31 July. The AVANZAR first-line lung readout is due in the second half of 2026. Etcamah (camizestrant) received EU approval on 23 July and US accelerated approval on 4 September for ESR1-mutated breast cancer. The negative SERENA-4 result on 14 September limits it to that biomarker-selected setting for now. DESTINY-Lung04 extended Enhertu's benefit into first-line HER2-mutant lung cancer. Eight-year ADAURA data showed 79% of Tagrisso patients alive against 64% on placebo. Cell therapy is being built through AbelZeta's C-CAR031 GPC3 CAR-T, and the Dizal licence for Zegfrovy completed on 1 September 2026.

Respiratory and immunology. Tozorakimab, an anti-IL-33 antibody, was positive in the OBERON, TITANIA and PROSPERO COPD trials, with full data presented at ERS on 8 September 2026. It is under FDA priority review. Tezspire met its primary endpoints in the CROSSING trial on 27 August 2026, and Trixeo was approved in the EU for asthma on 23 September 2026.

Manufacturing and footprint. AstraZeneca plans to invest $50bn in US manufacturing and R&D by 2030, including a $4.5bn plant in Virginia, and expects the US to be about half of its targeted $80bn of 2030 revenue. It has also announced $15bn of investment in China through 2030. FY2026 capital expenditure is guided up by about one third.

8. Competitive Landscape

Market capitalisations were re-checked live on 24 September 2026. The revenue figures come from each company's own FY2025 results announcement.

Peer	Market cap (September 2026)	Key 2025 metric
Eli Lilly (LLY)	~$1,053bn	FY2025 revenue $65.2bn, up 45%, driven by its incretin obesity and diabetes franchise
AbbVie (ABBV)	~$468bn	FY2025 net revenue $61.16bn
Merck & Co (MRK)	~$365bn	FY2025 worldwide sales $65.0bn
Roche (RHHBY)	~$349bn	FY2025 group sales CHF 61.5bn across pharmaceuticals and diagnostics
Novartis (NVS)	~$273bn	FY2025 net sales $54.53bn with a 40% core operating margin
Pfizer (PFE)	~$162bn	FY2025 revenue $62.6bn

AstraZeneca's FY2025 Total Revenue of $58.7bn puts it in the same size band as AbbVie, Merck, Pfizer and Novartis. Its market value is the sixth largest in the group, below Roche and above Novartis. Lilly's incretin franchise has taken it into a valuation class of its own, and this is where AstraZeneca's obesity programme will be measured.

9. Insider Activity

AstraZeneca is a UK-incorporated company, so director dealings are disclosed as PDMR notifications on the London Stock Exchange rather than on SEC Form 4. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot and Chair Michel Demaré made the only discretionary open-market purchases of 2026 on 14 September 2026. The other entries are share-plan grants and vestings, which carry no signal about sentiment. Daily "Transaction in own shares" buyback notices are excluded.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Pascal Soriot (CEO)	14 Sep 2026	Open-market purchase	60,000	£121.02	~£7.26m	Discretionary
Michel Demaré (Chair)	14 Sep 2026	Open-market purchase	2,500	£121.21	~£0.30m	Discretionary
Aradhana Sarin (CFO)	14 Sep 2026	Dividend-equivalent shares	73	Nil cost	n/a	Share plan
Aradhana Sarin (CFO)	17 Aug 2026	Vesting of 2021 award (net)	11,133	£114.60	~£1.28m	Performance Share Plan
Pascal Soriot (CEO)	14 May 2026	Vesting of 2021 award at 88% (net)	18,359	£137.66	~£2.53m	Performance Share Plan
Pascal Soriot (CEO)	04 Mar 2026	Award grant	103,581	£152.42	~£15.8m face value	Deferred Bonus Plan (13,970) and Performance Share Plan (89,611)
Aradhana Sarin (CFO)	04 Mar 2026	Award grant	42,393	£152.42	~£6.46m face value	Deferred Bonus Plan (5,258) and Performance Share Plan (37,135)

The 14 September purchases were made on the day SERENA-4 was reported, at a price about 23% below the February 2026 London high of 15,732p. After the purchase, Soriot's disclosed direct holding was 941,175 shares.

10. Key Risks

• US pricing policy: the October 2025 agreement with the US government is already a named gross-margin headwind in H1 2026. Farxiga is subject to Medicare price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act, and in December 2025 the company sued over Calquence's classification as a qualifying single-source drug. The US is 43% of revenue, and the company is targeting about half of 2030 revenue there.
• Loss of exclusivity: Farxiga, the largest medicine at $8,405m in FY2025, lost US exclusivity in Q2 2026 and is exposed to Chinese volume-based procurement. Growth depends on newer medicines outgrowing these declines every year.
• Pipeline execution: three late-stage programmes, Wainua in ATTR cardiomyopathy, volrustomig in lung cancer and camizestrant in first-line use, missed or were stopped between July and September 2026. The $80bn 2030 ambition assumes a high success rate across more than twenty readouts over the next eighteen months.
• China legal and commercial exposure: the Chinese subsidiary and former China president Leon Wang were indicted in February 2026 on illegal-trade and personal-data charges. The company has also committed $15bn of new investment in China, where 11% of revenue is generated.
• Balance-sheet load from business development: net debt rose $3.5bn in six months to $26,912m at 30 June 2026. Licensing upfronts of up to $1.2bn per deal, and milestone commitments running into billions, are added to a capital expenditure budget guided up by about one third for 2026.
• 340B and US litigation: AstraZeneca is litigating 340B drug-discount contract-pharmacy laws in about 21 US states with mixed results. It has adverse rulings under appeal in Arkansas and Colorado and a preliminary injunction in its favour in Oklahoma.

11. Recent Developments

• 23 Sep 2026 — Trixeo approved in the EU for asthma. The triple-combination inhaler, previously approved for COPD, gained an asthma indication. This extends the Breztri and Trixeo franchise, which recorded $1,199m of FY2025 revenue.
• 21 Sep 2026 — CHMP positive opinions for Klygefa and Enhertu. The EU committee recommended gefurulimab (Klygefa) in generalised myasthenia gravis and Enhertu in post-neoadjuvant early breast cancer, moving Enhertu into the curative-intent setting.
• 14 Sep 2026 — SERENA-4 missed its primary endpoint. Camizestrant plus a CDK4/6 inhibitor did not significantly improve progression-free survival in first-line HR-positive breast cancer. The same day, eight-year ADAURA data showed 79% overall survival with adjuvant Tagrisso against 64% on placebo.
• 14 Sep 2026 — CEO and Chair bought shares. Pascal Soriot bought 60,000 shares at £121.02, about £7.26m, and Michel Demaré bought 2,500 shares at £121.21.
• 08 Sep 2026 — Tozorakimab data at ERS and Imfinzi survival result. Full Phase III COPD data for tozorakimab were presented. Separately, Imfinzi combined with Imdelltra improved overall survival in small cell lung cancer.
• 07 Sep 2026 — Etcamah granted US accelerated approval. The FDA action on 4 September covers camizestrant with a CDK4/6 inhibitor for ESR1-mutated HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, based on SERENA-6.
• 01 Sep 2026 — Zegfrovy licence completed and Enhertu approved in the EU. The Dizal agreement ($600m upfront, up to $900m further) closed; Enhertu won EU approval in first-line HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer; and Wan Ling Martello joined the Board.
• 27 Aug 2026 — Tezspire CROSSING trial met its primary endpoints. The result adds to the evidence base for the anti-TSLP antibody, which recorded $1,131m of FY2025 revenue.
• 17 Aug 2026 — Mixed Phase III news in lung cancer. DESTINY-Lung04 showed improved progression-free survival for Enhertu in first-line HER2-mutant lung cancer, and Tagrisso plus Orpathys improved survival. However, the eVOLVE-Lung02 trial of volrustomig was discontinued.
• 02 Aug 2026 — Merger report hit the shares. The Financial Times reported talks between AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb on a combination valued at about $400bn, and the shares fell sharply in London. A Reuters source subsequently said no discussions were under way.
• 27 Jul 2026 — H1 2026 results and guidance reconfirmed. Total Revenue was $30,672m, up 9%, and Core EPS was $5.21, up 12%. FY2026 guidance and the $3.30 dividend intention were reaffirmed, and the first interim dividend was declared at $1.06.

12. Key Dates to Watch

• 26 Oct 2026 — AstraZeneca "Meet the Management" investor event at the ESMO 2026 congress.
• 30 Oct 2026 — 9M and Q3 2026 results announcement.
• Expected Feb 2027 — FY2026 results and declaration of the second interim dividend. The Board intends a total of $3.30 for FY2026, of which $1.06 has been paid. The exact date has not yet been announced.
• Expected Mar 2027 — payment of the second interim FY2026 dividend, in line with the company's usual March payment cycle.
• TBC — US FDA decision on tozorakimab in COPD, under priority review; press reports point to the first quarter of 2027.
• TBC — AVANZAR Phase III readout for Datroway in first-line non-small cell lung cancer, guided to the second half of 2026.
• TBD — 2027 Annual General Meeting. The 2026 AGM was held on 9 April 2026.

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