ShoreCap stays at 'buy' on AstraZeneca, sees further upgrades ahead on product pipeline

Analysts at ShoreCap reiterated their 'buy' recommendation for shares of drugs giant AstraZeneca, describing its second quarter top-line growth of 37% year-on-year at constant exchange rates "impressive".

"AZN have delivered a strong second quarter, with Q2 benefitting from a full quarter of Alexion integration and several products beating consensus expectations," analyst Dr.Susie Jana said in a research note sent to clients.

"Oncology was in line overall due to strong commercial execution and lower COVID-19 related headwinds than anticipated."

The analyst also called attention to the fact that AstraZeneca was reinvesting its strong revenues into research and development.

And there was more yet to come.

"AZN has a strong mid to late-stage pipeline, we expect product and candidate related news flow in 2023 to lead to further upgrades. A strong set of results underpinning the long-term growth story," she added.

"AZN shares trade on a FY23F PER of 16.8x, a c 5% premium versus US and European peers (mean 16.1x), which we believe is warranted based on its industry-leading earnings growth and pipeline prospects."