For those of you who haven’t been following along, here is a very short summary:
Right now, AstraZeneca’s China chief, Leon Wang, is being investigated for alleged violations of laws related to pharmaceutical imports and data privacy. Two other current managers as well as two former managers are also being investigated. .
Here, many draw a parallel between AstraZeneca and the British pharmaceutical company GSK, where a number of lawsuits were on the table.
There is a great risk that this could drag on and affect the stock like a wet blanket, depending on the amount of fines and the content of the investigations. For the short-term it is boring but for the one with longer endurance it can be positive. At least that’s my gut feeling.
AstraZeneca reports
Recent quaterly report was a really strong report, both turnover and profit were higher and the company is also raising its forecast for the remainder of the year. Here it is not a question of any profit crusher. Earnings per share for the quarter were $2.08. That was higher than analysts’ expectations of $2.06.
The stock has tumbled more than 20% since its All-Time-High as recently as August. This means that the market value has fallen by SEK 600 billion. For the full year, however, the share is up 4%.
The surprise in quaterly reporting was that the company is investing an additional SEK 38 billion in research and development in the USA. Today, Astra has approximately 17,800 employees there and the new venture will mean thousands of new jobs in the country.
Among other things, the money will be invested in a state-of-the-art research facility in the state of Massachusetts. This is a first step in the ambition to reach $80 billion in total revenue by 2030.
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