AstraZeneca's profit beat expectations as cancer drug sales powered growth

AstraZeneca $AZN reported second-quarter results on Monday that topped profit expectations, with the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company holding its 2026 guidance and $80 billion annual revenue target for 2030. Core earnings per share reached $2.63 for the three months ended June 30, a gain of 18% on a constant-currency basis.

Total revenue rose 5% to $15.38 billion. Analyst consensus had expected core EPS of $2.

48 and revenue of $15.39 billion, according to Reuters. Net profit climbed more than 2% to $2.

51 billion compared with the same period a year earlier, the company said. Cancer drug sales climbed 15% and rare disease revenues were up 8%, while China, AstraZeneca's second-largest market, saw a 13% revenue decline as generic competition and policy shifts weighed on results. For the full year 2026, AstraZeneca maintained its forecast of low double-digit percentage growth in core earnings per share at constant currency, alongside total revenue growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range.

"We remain confident in the strength of our pipeline and have more than twenty high-value readouts due over the next 18 months," CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement. Soriot also told journalists the company was building toward its 2030 revenue ambition and beyond. "We have the science, we have the pipeline, and we have the team to make this happen," he said, according to Reuters.

The results came after investor confidence was rattled earlier this month when nerve drug Wainua failed to meet targets in a late-stage trial — a setback that raised questions about the company's long-term trajectory. Soriot acknowledged the unpredictability of drug development: "Biology is not mathematics. It's not as predictable," he told Reuters.

In the second quarter, AstraZeneca kicked off six Phase III trials of elecoglipron, its oral GLP-1 weight-loss pill candidate targeting obesity and type 2 diabetes, as it moves to challenge the dominant positions held by Novo Nordisk of Denmark and U.S. giant Eli Lilly $LLY.

AstraZeneca also revised upward its peak sales projection for tozorakimab, an experimental respiratory treatment, to above $5 billion from the previous $3 billion estimate. CFO Aradhana Sarin flagged that the Iran war had pushed up the company's logistics and distribution expenses, without elaborating further, according to Reuters. AstraZeneca stock rose 1.

7% in Monday morning trading in London, though it remains down about 7% for the year. Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.