Start here if you're new
what it is
AstraZeneca sells prescription drugs for cancer, rare disease, asthma, heart disease, and diabetes.
how it gets paid
Last year Azn made $58.7B in revenue. Oncology was the main engine at $24.1B, or 41% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 8.6% last year. Year to date, the largest medicines, by dollar sales, were farxiga, a treatment for diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease, and which contributed 15% of.
what just happened
AstraZeneca posted $28.0B in quarterly revenue, with EPS at $3.44 and gross margin at 83.2%.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
90/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
15.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 73/100 — average
$78B fy2028 rev est
What they do
AstraZeneca sells prescription drugs for cancer, rare disease, asthma, heart disease, and diabetes.
You are buying 94,900 employees and 83.2% gross margin. Gross margin → revenue left after drug costs → so what: a lot survives each sale. Oncology is 41% of 2024 sales, while Europe is 22% and China is 12%, so your risk is concentrated, not scattered.
How they make money
$58.7B
annual revenue · their business grew +8.6% last year
Oncology
$24.1B
BioPharmaceuticals
$23.5B
Rare Disease
$9.4B
Other Medicines
$1.8B
The products that matter
cash engine
farxiga
15% of revenue · +11%
Farxiga was the largest medicine by dollar sales in the source feed. When one drug drives 15% of revenue, you watch durability, not just growth.
largest franchise
oncology anchor
tagrisso
12% of revenue · +10%
Tagrisso is still a double-digit share of the business and still growing. In human-speak: the core oncology engine is not done yet.
scale + growth
fastest mover
enhertu
5% of revenue · +37%
Enhertu is smaller today, but 37% growth gets your attention. This is the kind of product that turns pipeline optimism into actual numbers.
pipeline payoff
Key numbers
$99
18-mo target
That is $7.44 above the current price. You are not paying for a moonshot here.
83.2%
gross margin
Gross margin means revenue left after drug-making costs. At 83.2%, a lot of each dollar survives.
35.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. At 35.0%, AZN still throws off a lot of cash.
0.8
beta
Beta means stock wobble versus the market. At 0.8, AZN moves less than the market's 1.0 baseline.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 85 / 100
- long-term debt $24.7B (8% of capital)
- net profit margin 24.6% — keeps 25 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 20% — $0.20 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A with balance sheet grade and risk rank standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in AZN 3 years ago → it's now worth $13,970.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
AstraZeneca posted $28.0B in quarterly revenue, with EPS at $3.44 and gross margin at 83.2%.
EDGAR shows the latest quarter at $28.0B revenue and $3.44 EPS, with revenue up 94% and EPS up 119%. Yahoo's consensus snapshot still flags a separate earnings line at $2.12 versus $2.36, a 10.17% miss.
$28.0B
revenue
$3.44
eps
83.2%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 83.2% gross margin matters because it leaves room for R&D, legal noise, and still makes money.
-
astrazeneca's third-quarter results beat expectations.
-
core revenues grew 12% vs. prior year, while adjusted core earnings per share climbed 16%.
-
year to date, the largest medicines, by dollar sales, were farxiga, a treatment for diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease, and which contributed 15% of total revenues and grew at an 11% annual pace; tagrisso, for cancer, (12%, 10%); and imfinzi, for cancer, (10%, 25%).
-
another notable rapidly growing treatment is enhertu, for cancer, (5%, 37%).
-
a longer-term driver is the company's unprecedented 16 positive phase iii trials so far this year.we agree with management's projection that the company will have $80 billion in total sales by 2030, suggesting continued healthy growth out to that time frame.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
AstraZeneca's risk profile is not abstract. It sits in a few big drugs, a very visible pipeline, and a legal question tied to China that the market does not want to guess about twice.
med
a handful of medicines carry a lot of weight
Farxiga, Tagrisso, Imfinzi, and Enhertu accounted for 42% of revenue based on the figures already on the page.
That concentration helps when growth is healthy. It hurts quickly if one franchise slows, gets pressured, or disappoints commercially.
med
trial wins still have to become cash
Sixteen positive phase III trials sound great because they are great. But positive data is not the same thing as durable launch revenue.
If new wins do not show up in sales, the $80B-by-2030 target starts to look like ambition instead of a model.
med
china exposure is not just background noise
The page already referenced a Robbins LLP investigation around alleged investor misinformation tied to China legal exposure.
If this stays contained to headlines, investors move on. If it turns into penalties, delayed disclosures, or a hit to reported results, the stock likely pays for it.
med
good business does not always mean big near-term upside
The stock rose 29.2% last year versus 21.3% for the healthcare industry, yet the current 18-month midpoint target is only $99 from $91.56.
That gap says expectations already moved up. You probably need continued clean execution just to earn an ordinary return from here.
Bottom line: AZN leans on oncology and China more than the calm chart suggests.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
the $80B revenue test
Management wants $80B of annual sales by 2030 from a current $58.7B base. Every quarter, you are really checking whether double-digit growth still supports that bridge.
calendar
next earnings window
Estimated between Apr 24–30, 2026. The existing page also cited a May 5, 2026 estimate from Zacks. The exact date matters less than whether growth stays in the same zip code.
trend
late-stage pipeline readouts
More late-stage results are expected through 2026, and the existing page tied them to more than $10B of peak revenue opportunity. That is where future growth stops being theory.
risk
china legal overhang
The page cited an ongoing Robbins LLP investigation tied to alleged investor misinformation around China legal exposure. If that stays a headline, the damage is limited. If it becomes a financial issue, the story changes fast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
90 / 100
in human-speak, management usually tells the street roughly what is coming and the numbers usually stay close to the script.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 697 buyers vs. 423 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.5B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$74
$124
$92
current price
$99
target midpoint · +8% from current · 3-5yr high: $130 (+40% · 10% ann'l return)
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