TLDR
- AstraZeneca (AZN) stock rose 7% to $187.22 on Friday, its biggest one-day gain since October 2025.
- The drugmaker announced a three-year plan to save about $1.5 billion a year by 2029, with up to $2 billion in one-time restructuring costs.
- Q3 adjusted earnings were $2.79 per share, beating the $2.59 forecast. Revenue was $16.21 billion.
- Oncology sales rose 17% to $7.77 billion, while Farxiga sales fell 25% to $1.61 billion.
- The 2026 outlook was left unchanged, and the stock has erased its losses for the year.
AstraZeneca (AZN) stock jumped 7% to $187.22 on Friday, its biggest one-day gain since October 2025. The move followed a new cost-savings plan and a third-quarter earnings beat.
The rally wiped out the stock’s losses for the year. Before Friday’s session, the U.S.-listed stock was down 0.6% in 2026.
The three-year program targets about $1.5 billion in annual savings by 2029. The money will go mainly into a pipeline of more than 180 projects.
AstraZeneca expects up to $2 billion in one-time restructuring charges. Details on how it will find the savings were thin.
What the plan means for jobs
Executives said some departments face cutbacks or restructuring. Others will retrain staff and hire for new needs.
CEO Pascal Soriot said moving focus away from patent-expiring drugs like Farxiga and Brilinta could make some R&D roles redundant. The company gave no job or geographic targets.
Management still expects net job growth across different areas. That is a line worth watching as the plan unfolds.
Soriot wants the story to be about growth again. He said the company is on track for its 2030 goal of $80 billion in annual revenue.
Third-quarter results beat estimates
Adjusted earnings came in at $2.79 per share, compared with the $2.59 analysts expected. Revenue reached $16.21 billion, ahead of forecasts of about $16 billion.
Oncology revenue climbed 17% to $7.77 billion. Enhertu sales jumped 35% to $969 million.
Imfinzi sales rose 26% to about $2 billion. Those gains helped cover weaker sales of older drugs.
Farxiga sales fell 25% to $1.61 billion. The diabetes drug lost exclusivity last year, and the first generic was approved in April 2026.
AstraZeneca left its 2026 outlook unchanged. It still guides for mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth and low double-digit earnings growth.
J.P. Morgan analysts said the guidance and the beat should be “well received.” Quilter Cheviot analyst Sheena Berry said the results should reassure investors after a turbulent stretch.
That stretch included clinical setbacks with Wainua and camizestrant, plus short-lived talk of a deal with Bristol Myers Squibb. Some analysts felt the Wainua reaction was overdone.
Operating expenses were $27.56 billion in the first nine months, up 7%. The company said costs will rise again in the fourth quarter on seasonal trends.
Analysts are now looking to 2027, when AstraZeneca expects a series of late-stage trial results it says could generate more than $20 billion in peak annual sales. On Friday, all three major U.S. indexes were trading lower while AstraZeneca climbed.
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