Erste Group Bank Expects Stronger Earnings for Astrazeneca

Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) – Equities researchers at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Astrazeneca in a note issued to investors on Monday, July 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $10.33 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $10.31. The consensus estimate for Astrazeneca’s current full-year earnings is $10.22 per share.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AZN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC lowered shares of Astrazeneca from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Astrazeneca from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Astrazeneca has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.00.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

NYSE:AZN opened at $171.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $265.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.24. Astrazeneca has a fifty-two week low of $145.79 and a fifty-two week high of $212.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.83.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.13. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 31.45% and a net margin of 17.02%.The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.17 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Astrazeneca

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Amundi lifted its stake in Astrazeneca by 146,574.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 15,386,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,456,000 after acquiring an additional 15,375,659 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 889.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 11,949,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,319,947,000 after purchasing an additional 10,742,268 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in Astrazeneca by 106,772.0% during the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 8,054,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,419,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047,406 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Astrazeneca by 208.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,386,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,048,417,000 after purchasing an additional 7,021,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank bought a new position in Astrazeneca in the 1st quarter worth $1,202,714,000. Institutional investors own 20.35% of the company’s stock.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.