AstraZeneca lifts full-year earnings guidance after strong Q3

AstraZeneca lifted its full-year earnings guidance on Thursday following a solid third quarter.

The pharmaceuticals giant said it now expects 2022 core EPS at constant exchange rates to increase by a high twenties to low thirties percentage, up from previous guidance of a mid-to-high twenties increase.

At actual exchange rates, EPS growth is expected to be impacted by a currency headwind of a mid-to-high single-digit percentage, versus previous guidance of a mid single-digit headwind.

Chief executive Pascal Soriot said: "AstraZeneca continues to see the benefit of our sustained investment in Research & Development, with 19 major regulatory approvals since our last earnings call.

"After a strong performance in the year to date, we have increased our core EPS guidance for the full year 2022. Additionally, recent encouraging data for several of our pipeline programmes have given us the confidence to proceed with additional late-stage clinical trials as we maintain our focus on delivery of our growth ambitions."

Total revenue for the third quarter came in at $11bn, up 19% on the same period a year earlier. The company swung to a pre-tax profit of $922m from a loss of $2.0bn.