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AstraZeneca reported $15.38B in total Q2 revenue on July 27, up 5% at constant currency, as strong cancer drug sales helped the company beat profit expectations and reaffirm its long-term targets.
Core earnings per share came in at $2.63, beating analyst consensus. Oncology was the engine, with revenue up 15% to $14.1B in the first half, driven by cancer medicines Tagrisso and Imfinzi.
Rare disease revenue grew 11%, while biopharmaceuticals slid 5%, hurt by loss of exclusivity for Farxiga. China, AstraZeneca's second-biggest market, saw revenue fall 13%, pressured by generic competition and policy changes.
The results come after a bruising stretch for the company's drug pipeline.
Shares fell sharply earlier this month after heart disease drug Wainua missed its main goal in a late-stage trial, and investors had already been rattled by setbacks on experimental breast cancer treatment camizestrant.
CEO Pascal Soriot pushed back on the pessimism.
I have never been more confident in the strength of our pipeline."
Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca
Soriot said the company built its $80B revenue target assuming some drug candidates would fail, with forecasts adjusted for that risk from the start.
With recent launches of hypertension drug Baxfendy and breast cancer treatment Etcamah, AstraZeneca says it's now more than halfway through its goal of launching 20 new medicines by 2030.
The company flagged more than 20 Phase III trial readouts expected over the next 18 months, including two closely watched late-stage cancer studies.
AstraZeneca also launched six Phase III trials for oral GLP-1 candidate elecoglipron, targeting obesity and type 2 diabetes, one of its largest late-stage programmes, as it moves to compete with established players in that space.
Separately, the company raised its sales forecast for experimental respiratory drug tozorakimab to more than $5B, up from a prior estimate of $3B.
Beyond the numbers, Soriot issued a broader warning to western pharma.
He urged the industry to move at Chinese speed, citing China's heavy investment in antibody drug conjugates and cell therapy as a competitive threat similar to what happened with electric vehicles in the auto industry.
On AI, Soriot was dismissive of job-loss fears, saying the technology would boost productivity and support economic growth rather than reduce headcount.
AstraZeneca reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth and low double-digit core EPS growth at constant currency.
