AstraZeneca third-quarter revenue reaches $16.209 billion, up 7%
Key Facts
AstraZeneca reported revenue of $16.209 billion in the third quarter of 2026 on October 30, up 7% year on year at both actual and constant exchange rates, according to the company’s statement. Core earnings per share were $2.79, up 17% at actual exchange rates and 19% at constant exchange rates. Reported earnings per share were $2.02, up 23% and 26%, respectively. Core earnings grew faster than revenue, as the company said its fiscal 2026 outlook was unchanged. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said revenue for the first nine months rose 7% and core earnings per share increased 14%, attributing the performance to the company’s broad therapy-area portfolio and global presence.
Product revenue in the third quarter was $16.173 billion, up 7%, while product sales reached $15.066 billion, up 5%, according to AstraZeneca’s statement. The difference reflects the company’s distinction between product sales and revenue, which also includes alliance revenue. Alliance revenue rose 36% to $1.107 billion in the quarter. This growth helped lift total quarterly revenue to $16.209 billion, with overall revenue increasing 7%. In the first nine months of the year, revenue was $46.881 billion, up 8% on a reported basis and 7% at constant exchange rates.
Revenue growth varied across therapy areas in the nine months ended September 30. Oncology revenue rose 16% at constant exchange rates to $21.889 billion, and rare-disease revenue increased 11% to $7.544 billion, the company said. By contrast, revenue from biopharmaceuticals fell 5% to $16.731 billion. Within that area, respiratory and immunology revenue rose 10% to $7.268 billion, while cardiovascular, renal and metabolism revenue fell 14% to $8.728 billion. Infectious-disease revenue also declined 12% to $735 million, according to the figures for the same period.
AstraZeneca said growth in oncology, respiratory and immunology, and rare diseases offset pressure from the loss of exclusivity for Farxiga and Brilinta and China’s volume-based procurement system. These factors show the differing sources of growth and pressure within the company’s portfolio during the period, alongside an overall decline in biopharmaceutical revenue. On its outlook, the company maintained its forecast for 2026 revenue growth at a mid-to-high single-digit rate at constant exchange rates. It also expects low double-digit growth in core earnings per share and a core tax rate of 18% to 22%. The reaffirmation followed third-quarter revenue and earnings growth, with no changes announced to the outlook ranges.
AstraZeneca’s development pipeline comprises 180 projects, including 116 new medicines or major lifecycle-management projects in Phase II or III and 20 new medicines in late-stage development, according to the company’s statement. Since its fourth-quarter 2025 results, the company has received 47 approvals in major regions, including the first approvals for four new medicines: Itepekimab, Baxfendy, Kavigale and Amlyfap. It has also reported 12 positive Phase III readouts since the start of the year. Soriot said the combined peak annual revenue potential of these programs was “well in excess of $10 billion.” The company linked progress in its pipeline to its ambition to reach annual revenue of $80 billion in 2030, Reuters reported.
The company announced a resource reallocation program to support its development pipeline, but Reuters said AstraZeneca did not clarify whether the plan would include job cuts. In trading on October 30, the stock was up about 6% by 14:33 GMT, after rising as much as 7.3% earlier in the session, Reuters reported. EL7’s daily closing data showed a price of 174.4 on October 29 and 187.69 on October 30. Reuters quoted Shina Berry, an analyst at Quilter Cheviot, as saying the results “should reassure investors after a turbulent period for a historically very strong company.” Soriot added that the company was “on track to deliver its 2030 ambition and continue growing through the next decade,” according to AstraZeneca’s statement.