AZN Astrazeneca Plc

By Carlo Martuscelli

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) reported results for the third quarter on Thursday. Here's what we looked at:

SALES: The British drug maker said sales in the quarter totaled $6.41 billion, ahead of analyst forecasts of $6.13 billion.

CORE EPS: Core earnings per share, a company metric looked at by analysts, was 99 cents, slightly exceeding market consensus expectations of 97 cents.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

TAGRISSO: Cancer drug Tagrisso confirmed its place as a key revenue driver for the company, accounting for 13% of its total sales. The drug generated $891 million in the quarter--which Shore Capital says is a 4% beat to analyst consensus expectations. The performance of the oncology portfolio overall was strong, with sales increasing by 48% at constant exchange rates.

CHINA: The FTSE 100-listed company's performance in China didn't seem to be losing steam despite earlier warnings by Chief Executive Pascal Soriot. Astra said that sales in the region increased by 40% excluding currency effects. Shore Capital said that it expects investors will react well to the drug maker's strength in emerging markets.

CASH FLOW: Earlier in the year, analysts had highlighted cash flow as one issue facing the company, particularly after a large deal to acquire part of the rights to the cancer asset DS-8201, but these seem to have abated. "Cash is the lifeblood of any company, so it is particularly encouraging to see such a strong performance here with the best part of a $1 billion inflow in the period after capital expenditure," says AJ Bell.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 24, 2019 08:54 ET (12:54 GMT)

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