AstraZeneca stock rose moderately Tuesday despite a mixed first-quarter report and a setback for its experimental prostate cancer treatment.
Earnings beat expectations by 10%, Leerink Partners analyst Andrew Berens said in a client note. But revenue came in light at $13.59 billion. Analysts called for a more bullish $13.81 billion, according to FactSet. Total revenue climbed 7% on a strict, as-reported basis, while core earnings of $2.49 a share jumped 21%. In constant currency, sales advanced 10%.
Berens noted the earnings beat was due to a favorable 16% tax rate and tax settlements in the quarter.
AstraZeneca stock rose 2.6%, closing at 71.71. That put shares within striking distance of their 50-day moving average, according to MarketSurge.
AstraZeneca Stock: Guidance Maintained
For the year, AstraZeneca continues to expect sales to increase by a high-single-digit percentage, in constant currency, with core earnings to grow by double digits.
Separately, AstraZeneca scrapped a study of its drug, Truqap, in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. An independent data monitoring committee said the Truqap-containing regimen was unlikely to meet the study's goal.
But, European officials recommended for approval a regimen using AstraZeneca's Calquence for previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a blood cancer. The Phase 3 study showed Calquence combinations meaningfully improved how long patients lived before worsening compared with chemotherapy.
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