AstraZeneca reported first-half 2026 revenue of $30.7 billion, up 9 percent on a reported basis and 6 percent at constant exchange rates, with core operating profit and core earnings per share both rising 11 percent. Core earnings per share for the first half rose 12 percent to $5.21, while reported earnings per share increased 4 percent to $3.60. In the second quarter alone, revenue rose 6 percent to $15.4 billion, while core earnings per share climbed 21 percent to $2.63.
Growth in the first half was driven by double-digit gains in oncology and rare disease, which offset the loss of U.S. exclusivity for diabetes treatment Farxiga and continued pricing pressure from China’s volume-based procurement program. The company increased its interim dividend by three cents to $1.06 per share, equivalent to 79.5 pence, and secured 30 approvals across major regions since its fourth-quarter 2025 results. AstraZeneca reaffirmed its full-year 2026 guidance at constant exchange rates, with total revenue still expected to increase by a mid-to-high single-digit percentage and core earnings per share by a low double-digit percentage, alongside a core tax rate expected between 18 and 22 percent. The company also reiterated its ambition to reach $80 billion in total revenue by 2030.
On the pipeline side, AstraZeneca reported positive results from six major Phase III programs during the first half and secured first approvals in eight major markets, including U.S. approval for Baxfendy, a first-in-class medicine for hypertension.
The company also disclosed statistically significant overall survival results from the CLARITY-Gastric01 Phase III trial for sone-Ve, European Union approval for Etcamah in combination therapy for ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, and an exclusive license agreement with Dizal Pharmaceutical for Zegfrovy, a novel oral EGFR inhibitor added to its oncology portfolio. The company acknowledged disappointment over its CARDIO-TTRansform Phase III trial, developed with Ionis for Wainua in patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy, which did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint.
KEY QUOTE:
“In the first half we saw strong performance and continued pipeline delivery, including six key positive Phase III programmes and eight first approvals in major markets, including in the US for Baxfendy, our first-in-class medicine for hypertension. While we are disappointed by the CARDIO-TTRansform outcome, we are on track to deliver our $80bn Total Revenue ambition, which assumes successes and setbacks. We remain confident in the strength of our pipeline and have more than twenty high-value readouts due over the next 18 months.”
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca
