AstraZeneca Boasts Strong Oncology Portfolio: Can It Sustain Growth?

AstraZeneca AZN is one of the leading drugmakers in the oncology space. Oncology sales (comprising around 41% of AstraZeneca‘s total revenues) rose 13% in the first quarter of 2025, generating $5.6 billion in sales. The strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo). AstraZeneca also has a profit-sharing deal with Merck MRK for Lynparza.

AstraZeneca is working on strengthening its oncology product portfolio through label expansions of existing products and progressing oncology pipeline candidates.

A key new cancer drug approval was that of Truqap for HR-positive, HER2-negative (HR+ HER2-) breast cancer. The drug has seen a robust launch, recording sales of $430 million in 2024 and $132 million in the first quarter of 2025. AstraZeneca and partner Daiichi’s drug, Datroway, was approved by the FDA for HR+ HER2- breast cancer in January and for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in June this year. Datroway witnessed encouraging early launch signals in the United States for the breast cancer indication in the first quarter.

Important late-stage oncology candidates in AstraZeneca’s pipeline are camizestrant (HR+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer) and volrustomig (several types of cancers).

AstraZeneca expects continued growth of its oncology medicines in 2025, particularly Tagrisso, Enhertu, Merck-partnered Lynparza and Imfinzi, despite the incremental impact of the Part D redesign. Our estimates for AstraZeneca’s total oncology portfolio suggest a CAGR of around 9% over the next three years.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Other large players in the oncology space are Pfizer PFE, Merck and Bristol-Myers BMY.

Pfizer boasts a strong portfolio of approved cancer medicines like Xtandi, Lorbrena and the Braftovi-Mektovi combination. Pfizer’s oncology revenues grew 7% in the first quarter of 2025. The addition of Seagen in 2023 also strengthened its position in oncology by adding four ADCs — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak. Pfizer also has a robust pipeline of cancer candidates with a focus on multiple modalities, including small molecules, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and immuno-oncology biologics. 

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-LI inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for around 50% of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales.

Bristol-Myers’ key cancer drug is PD-LI inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 20% of its total revenues.

AZN’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

AZN stock has risen 7.8% so far this year compared with an increase of 0.8% for the industry.

From a valuation standpoint, AstraZeneca is reasonably valued. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 14.69 forward earnings, slightly lower than 15.0 for the industry. The stock is also trading lower than its 5-year mean of 17.94. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has declined from $4.50 per share to $4.48  per share over the past 60 days. For 2026, earnings estimates have been stable at $4.98 per share over the same timeframe.

AstraZeneca has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research