Astra Zeneca's Q 2 core earnings per share exceed expectations, reiterates 2030 revenue target of US$80 billion
The company's second-quarter financial report released on Monday showed that thanks to strong growth in its oncology and rare disease businesses, the company's core earnings per share exceeded market expectations and reiterated its goal of achieving annual revenue of $80 billion in 2030. Financial report data showed that AstraZeneca's second-quarter core earnings per share were US$2.63, higher than the market consensus of US$2.48. Total revenue for the quarter reached US$15.38 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5%, basically in line with market expectations. The company's total revenue in the first half was US$30.67 billion, an increase of 6% on a constant currency basis. The core growth driver comes from the fields of oncology and rare diseases, with sales increasing by 15% and 8% respectively in the second quarter. Affected by generic drug competition and policy changes, other parts of the market performed weakly. In addition, the U.S. market is also facing pressure due to the expiration of the patent for Farxiga (dapagliflozin). Despite recent setbacks in clinical trials such as Wainua, AstraZeneca remains optimistic about the long-term prospects. The company has maintained its 2026 performance guidance and expects full-year total revenue to achieve mid- to high-single-digit growth and core earnings per share to achieve low-double-digit growth. AstraZeneca CEO Suboko reiterated the goal of total revenue of US$80 billion in 2030: "We have the scientific capabilities, R&D pipeline and team needed to achieve this goal." The company is actively promoting the research and development of elecoglipron, an oral GLP-1 candidate drug, and has launched six Phase III trials for obesity and type 2 diabetes in the second quarter. In addition, expected peak sales of the experimental respiratory drug tozorakimab have been raised to more than $5 billion from a previous estimate of $3 billion. The company expects to obtain more than 20 high-value clinical data readouts over the next 18 months.