By Billy Gray
AstraZeneca is scheduled to report results for the fourth quarter on Tuesday. Here is what you need to know.
SALES FORECAST: The British drugmaker is expected to post sales of $15.505 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by Visible Alpha. AstraZeneca posted $14.89 billion in sales for the prior year period.
CORE EARNINGS PER SHARE: The group is expected to report core earnings per share--its preferred metric, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items--of $2.11, per Visible Alpha consensus estimates. AstraZeneca posted core earnings per share of $2.09 for the same period last year.
The company's shares rose 11% in the fourth quarter to close at 137.90 pounds on Dec. 31.
WHAT TO WATCH
--OBESITY TREATMENTS: AstraZeneca is one of several pharmaceutical groups aiming to enter the fast-growing weight-loss treatment market currently led by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. It said last month that it would pay $1.2 billion upfront to acquire China's CSPC Pharmaceuticals and gain rights to its experimental obesity and diabetes drugs. Including potential additional payments if the drugs hit regulatory targets, as well as sales milestone payments, the deal value could exceed $15 billion, making it the largest obesity-drug deal in terms of total potential value, according to biopharma deal database DealForma. "The [$1.2 billion] upfront is particularly large for such early stage assets and the deal is rather front-end-loaded in our view," Macquarie analysts Candyce Gao and Tony Ren said.
--PIPELINE POTENTIAL: The drugmaker recently reiterated its confidence in reaching $80 billion in total revenue in 2030. This would be largely due to continued growth in existing drugs and a large number of trial readouts for treatment candidates in 2027-29 that could also drive growth beyond 2030 as they reach peak sales potential. Investors will focus on how U.S. patent expirations and pipeline strength will contribute to that goal, with further factors including China's drug-purchase policies and the company's research and development spending, AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould said.
Write to Billy Gray at william.gray@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2026 03:56 ET (08:56 GMT)
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