AstraZeneca ADR

This is our first report on global pharma major, AstraZeneca. The company delivered an outstanding set of results, with revenues of nearly $11 billion surpassing Wall Street expectations. The resilience of its company against the challenging macroeconomic environment helped it deliver another earnings beat. Performance was again evenly distributed across areas, with double-digit year-on-year growth driven by the established Rest of the World, rising markets in Europe, and the United States. The management also remains positive about the underlying worldwide trend, although there is still some variation by tumor type and place, particularly in China, where city lockdowns are still common. Calquence is also maintaining tremendous progress, with revenues up 77% year-to-date. Furthermore, Enhertu maintained its progress in the United States with second-line HER2-high metastatic breast cancer, gaining 45% of new patients in just 5 months following the debut of DB03. DESTINY-Breast04 and HER2-low patient launches both went off without a hitch. During the quarter, they also gave an update on the outcomes of the Messina Phase III trial in eosinophilic esophagitis. Although Messina completely reduced tissue eosinophils under its mode of action, this did not result in a reduction in the symptoms of dysphagia. Overall, AstraZeneca is well-positioned to gain significant revenue in the coming quarters. We initiate coverage on the stock of AstraZeneca ADR with a ‘Hold’ rating.