The Zhitong Finance App learned that AstraZeneca (AZN.US) announced the results for the third quarter of 2026 on October 30. In terms of fixed exchange rate (CER), total revenue for the quarter increased 7% year over year to US$16.209 billion, product sales of US$15.066 billion increased 5%, and alliance revenue of US$1,107 billion increased 36%. Core earnings per share were $2.79, up 19% year over year; reported earnings per share were $2.02, up 26%. According to MarketBeat's summary forecast, the market originally expected core earnings per share of the quarter to be 2.60 US dollars and revenue of 16.0 billion US dollars, which were actually about 7% and 1% higher, respectively.
Structurally, the oncology business continued to take the lead in growth: revenue of US$7.765 billion, up 17% year on year, accounting for 48% of total revenue, of which Imfinzi grew 26% to US$1,990 billion, Enhertu (including alliance revenue) grew 35% to US$1,581 billion, and Tagrisso grew 12% to US$2,087 billion.
Patent expiration and domestic procurement are concentrated on mature varieties: Farxiga fell 25% to US$1.605 billion due to the launch of generic drugs in the US, Brilinta fell 50%, and the overall cardiovascular, renal and metabolic business declined 18%. The rare disease business grew 10%, and respiratory and immunization increased 11%. The core gross profit margin was 82%, an increase of 1 percentage point; the core operating profit was 5.855 billion US dollars, an increase of 20% (CER), and the core operating profit margin was 36%, an increase of 4 percentage points.
Regionally, US revenue of 6.899 billion US dollars increased 5%, Europe increased 12%, China's revenue was 1.92 billion US dollars, and the CER volume increased 3% (actual volume increased by 9%).
The company reaffirms its 2026 full-year CER guidelines: high single-digit growth in total revenue, low double-digit growth in core EPS, 18% — 22% core tax rate, and plans to raise the annual dividend to $3.30 per share. Revenue for the first nine months was $46.881 billion, and CER increased 7%; core EPS was $8.00, up 14%.
Under CEO Suboko's leadership, AstraZeneca is seeking to expand the scope of application of its anti-cancer drugs through co-medication. This strategy is working: According to data from a recent European top oncology conference, a combination of Infinefin and Amgen helped patients with small cell lung cancer survive for eight months. AstraZeneca also showed that Teresa was used in combination with another oncology drug to slow the progression of the disease in another type of lung cancer.
Despite continuing to rise in sales, investors have been wary of AstraZeneca after several setbacks in clinical trials this year — something unusual for a company accustomed to consistently reaping positive results. The cardiac drug Wainua failed in a clinical study earlier this year. Since the beginning of the year, AstraZeneca shares have dropped 5.4%.
Sales of some cardiovascular drugs, including the established anticoagulant Belinda, declined in the last quarter.