AstraZeneca (AZN.US) Q3 profit growth surpasses expectations, driven mainly by oncology drugs

According to coverage from Zhihui Finance APP, AstraZeneca (AZN.US) released its third quarter 2026 results on October 30. At constant exchange rates (CER), total revenue for the quarter rose 7% year-on-year to $16.209 billion, with product sales of $15.066 billion up 5%, and alliance revenue of $1.107 billion increasing 36%. Core earnings per share were $2.79, a year-on-year increase of 19%; reported earnings per share were $2.02, an increase of 26%. According to MarketBeat’s consensus estimates, the market originally expected core earnings per share for the quarter to be $2.60 and revenue to be $16.0 billion; the actual figures exceeded expectations by approximately 7% and 1%, respectively.

In terms of structure, the oncology business continued to be the main driver of growth: revenue was $7.765 billion, up 17% year-on-year, accounting for 48% of total revenue. Imfinzi grew 26% to $1.99 billion, Enhertu (including alliance revenue) grew 35% to $1.581 billion, and Tagrisso grew 12% to $2.087 billion.

The impact of patent expirations and domestic centralized procurement was concentrated on mature products: Farxiga declined 25% to $1.605 billion due to the launch of generics in the US, Brilinta dropped 50%, and the overall cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic business declined by 18%. The rare disease business grew 10%, while respiratory and immunology increased by 11%. Core gross margin was 82%, an increase of 1 percentage point; core operating profit was $5.855 billion, up 20% (CER), with a core operating profit margin of 36%, improving by 4 percentage points.

By region, US revenue grew 5% to $6.899 billion, Europe grew 12%, and China revenue was $1.92 billion, with CER growth of 3% (actual basis growth of 9%).

The company reaffirmed its full-year CER guidance for 2026: total revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits, core EPS growth in the low double digits, core tax rate of 18%–22%, and plans to increase the full-year dividend to $3.30 per share. For the first nine months, revenue was $46.881 billion, CER growth of 7%; core EPS was $8.00, up 14%.

Under CEO Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca is seeking to expand the indications of its cancer medicines through combination therapies. This strategy is delivering results: recent data from a leading European oncology conference showed that when Imfinzi is used in combination with a drug from Amgen, it helped small cell lung cancer patients extend survival by eight months. AstraZeneca also demonstrated that combining Tagrisso with another oncology drug delayed disease progression in another type of lung cancer.

Despite rising sales, investors have remained cautious toward AstraZeneca this year following multiple setbacks in clinical trials—an unusual situation for a company accustomed to consistently positive outcomes. Earlier this year, the cardiovascular drug Wainua failed in a clinical study. Since the beginning of the year, AstraZeneca's share price has fallen 5.4%.

Sales of several cardiovascular drugs, including the long-established anticoagulant Brilinta, declined last quarter.