Feb 10 (Reuters) – AstraZeneca forecast steady 2026 profit growth and a slower rise in sales on Tuesday, betting on demand for its cancer drugs while it boost its pipeline and invests in the U.S. and China to counter geopolitical pressures and patent expiries.
The outlook comes as longtime CEO Pascal Soriot steers the company towards its ambitious goal of reaching $80 billion in annual sales by 2030, driven by new medicines and investments, even as U.S. tariff and healthcare policies remain volatile.
The UK’s most valuable listed company forecast 2026 total revenue to grow by the mid-to-high single-digit percentage at constant currency rates, with core profit growth of a low double-digit percentage.
In 2025, sales and profit rose 8% and 11%, respectively, in line with AstraZeneca’s own forecasts.
Shares were up 1.4% in early trading.
DIVIDEND RAISED
AstraZeneca said it would raise its annual dividend by about 3% to $3.30, signalling confidence in its long-term plans.
It has made major moves to grow in the United States and China, its top two markets, with a $50 billion U.S. manufacturing deal last year, an NYSE listing and a $15 billion China investment this year following setbacks in the region.
Soriot has navigated the political environment in the U.S. well, helping make AstraZeneca the first non-U.S. drugmaker to sign a drug pricing deal with the White House last October in exchange for tariff relief.
Core earnings for the three months ended December 31 stood at $2.12 per share on total revenue that grew 2% to $15.50 billion, in line with expectations of $2.12 and $15.4 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.
Cancer drug sales leapt 20% to $7.03 billion, but revenue from cardiovascular drugs fell 6% to $3.05 billion, partly due to generic competition, including for diabetes and heart failure drug Farxiga.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Sri Hari N S in Bengaluru, and Maggie Fick and Bhanvi Satija in London; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Bernadette Baum)
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