Shares of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) traded 3.6% higher today after the European drugmaker posted better-than-expected quarterly results.
The company reported Q1 sales of $7.32 billion to top the $6.94 billion expected from market analysts. AZN said that it benefited from robust sales of its best-selling lung cancer drug Tagrisso, which generated $1.15 billion in sales.
Core earnings per share (EPS) were reported at $1.63 to exceed the consensus of $1.48.
Investors were looking to hear from the drugmaker on vaccine deliveries amid negative PR headlines surrounding the company’s product, as well as accusations from the EU about slow deliveries.
"Shipments (of COVID-19 vaccines) are increasing as manufacturing improves. We never overpromised, we communicated what we thought we would achieve at the time," CEO Pascal Soriot said during a media briefing.
The company made $275 million from selling 68 million doses, which translates into a price of $4 per dose. Soriot added that AZN is on track to deliver 200 million doses each month.
A vast majority of vaccines were delivered to Europe, with almost 20% of the remaining shots delivered to other regions.
"Despite the intense operational and political challenges created by AZN’s COVID-19 vaccine roll out, the core business continues to perform above market expectations in a most challenging quarter, demonstrating strength across therapeutic areas and geographies," Citigroup analysts said in a note following the earnings report.
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