April 29 (Reuters) – AstraZeneca beat first-quarter sales and profit expectations and maintained its 2026 outlook on Wednesday, as demand for its cancer drugs and investments in key markets helped the drugmaker navigate a complex geopolitical landscape.
Longtime CEO Pascal Soriot, 66, is steering the European drugmaking giant toward its goal of $80 billion in annual sales by 2030, expanding AstraZeneca’s U.S. and China footprint while manoeuvering geopolitics and shifting dynamics in the industry.
The company’s core earnings for the three months ended March 31 rose to $2.58 per share, while total revenue jumped 8% to $15.29 billion at constant currency rates.
Analysts on average were expecting profit of $2.54 per share on sales of $14.9 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.
AstraZeneca continues to expect core earnings per share this year to increase by a low double-digit percentage at constant currencies, with total revenues rising at a mid-to-high single-digit rate.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka, Sri Hari N S in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
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