AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN) raised its 2024 sales and profit outlook for the second time in under four months, following stronger-than-expected third-quarter results.
The Anglo-Swedish drugs giant now projects that annual revenue and core earnings per share will increase by a high-teens percentage, up from a previous forecast of mid-teens growth, based on constant currency rates.
For the third quarter, sales grew by 20% at constant currencies to $12.95 billion, giving earnings of $2.08c a share, up 27% on the year earlier with AZ's oncology portfolio continuing to support this growth.
"We are highly encouraged by the broad-based underlying momentum we are seeing across our company in 2024, and growth looks set to continue through 2025, providing a solid foundation to deliver on our 2030 ambition," said CEO Pascal Soriot.
Fleshed out, that "ambition" is to grow revenues to $80 billion over the next six years.
While AZ's financial circumstances appear to have gone from strength to strength, the market sentiment has been undermined somewhat by its travails in China, where a leading executive has been arrested leading to a three-month 17% drop in the share price.