Shares in AstraZeneca were down nearly 4% on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning after reporting its latest financial results.
The Anglo-Swedish biopharmaceutical company reported $45.8bn (around €41.7bn) in revenue for the financial year 2023 and highlighted strong sales for its cancer drug.
It also posted gross profit of more than
$37.5bn (around €34bn), up from $32bn (around €29bn) in 2022.
The results were driven by oncology drugs,
which made up more than a third of sales reported.
Why AstraZeneca stock is down
However, the news failed to cheer
investors with the company's stock down 3.76%, at the time of writing.
“Many investors view AstraZeneca
as invincible given its success in recent years, yet its latest results showed
that even the mighty can disappoint," Russ Mould, investment director at
AJ Bell, said.
“The drugs giant missed fourth
quarter earnings expectations due to more money being spent on research and
development and a greater contribution from lower-margin sales in emerging
markets. However, the business remains optimistic about the prospects for its
cancer and rare disease drugs.
“Pharmaceutical companies
typically prosper from having a mixture of blockbuster products, treatments
with limited or no competition, and a healthy pipeline of new drugs.
AstraZeneca is under constant pressure to keep driving growth and that means
success in the laboratory as well as products already on the market.
AstraZeneca’s pipeline looks busy, but success is never guaranteed,” Mould
added.
As previously reported by
Euronews Business, AstraZeneca announced a multi-billion dollar deal last year
to produce the new drug with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Eccogene.
The deal provides that
AstraZeneca will pay $1.825bn to Eccogene “in future clinical, regulatory, and
commercial milestones”.
Shares in AstraZeneca were down
nearly 4% on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday morning after reporting its
latest financial results.
The Anglo-Swedish
biopharmaceutical company reported $45.8bn (around €41.7bn) in revenue for the
financial year 2023 and highlighted strong sales for its cancer drug.
It also posted gross profit of
more than $37.5bn (around €34bn), up from $32bn (around €29bn) in 2022.
The results were driven by
oncology drugs, which made up more than a third of sales reported.
Why AstraZeneca stock is down
However, the news failed to cheer
investors with the company's stock down 3.76%, at the time of writing.
“Many investors view AstraZeneca
as invincible given its success in recent years, yet its latest results showed
that even the mighty can disappoint," Russ Mould, investment director at
AJ Bell, said.
“The drugs giant missed fourth
quarter earnings expectations due to more money being spent on research and
development and a greater contribution from lower-margin sales in emerging
markets. However, the business remains optimistic about the prospects for its
cancer and rare disease drugs.
“Pharmaceutical companies
typically prosper from having a mixture of blockbuster products, treatments
with limited or no competition, and a healthy pipeline of new drugs.
AstraZeneca is under constant pressure to keep driving growth and that means
success in the laboratory as well as products already on the market.
AstraZeneca’s pipeline looks busy, but success is never guaranteed,” Mould
added.
As previously reported by
Euronews Business, AstraZeneca announced a multi-billion dollar deal last year
to produce the new drug with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Eccogene.
The deal provides that
AstraZeneca will pay $1.825bn to Eccogene “in future clinical, regulatory, and
commercial milestones”.
AstraZeneca announces new
anti-obesity drug deal and positive profit
Demand
falls for Covid-19 vaccine
The company became a household name
during the Covid-19 pandemic when it produced one of the first vaccines to be
approved on the market. However, demand for its vaccine has declined as cases
have eased.
"We expect another year of
strong growth in 2024, driven by continued adoption of our medicines across
geographies. Our differentiated and growing portfolio of approved medicines,
global reach and rich R&D pipeline give us confidence that we will continue
to deliver industry-leading growth,” Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer,
AstraZeneca, said in a statement following the financial update.
euronews.com/business/2024/02/08/astrazeneca