The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights Mastercard, AstraZeneca and Sandisk
Mastercard, AstraZeneca and Sandisk face distinct opportunities and risks, from payment competition and drug pipeline growth ...
Analysis updated on Oct. 15, 2026 (UTC) · Alpha · vs marketSwitch to Total · NYSE
Our AI ranks Astrazeneca Plc outside the neutral middle of its coverage (a directional signal). Create a free account and follow it to see the exact price target.
Astrazeneca Plc is a mega-cap company with a market capitalization of $251.15B. It ranks number 7 by market capitalization among the 60 Pharmaceutical Preparations issuers in our coverage with a current forecast.
For AZN, the Spearman rank correlation between our 90-day forecasts and the returns that followed is 6.0%, measured on 358 forecast dates between 2022-07-28 and 2026-07-17 on this stock's own recent history. A rank correlation runs from -100% to +100%: it measures whether higher forecasts were followed by higher returns, and a value near zero or below means the model has shown little skill on this stock. On the 30-day forecasts the same correlation is 10.0%, measured on 400 forecast dates between 2022-07-28 and 2026-09-15. Across our coverage, the out-of-sample test on 4495 stocks from 2025-01-06 to 2026-07-07 produced a positive net return in 82.5% of rebalance periods (factor-neutral book, net of estimated costs). Full backtest report
Expected return relative to the market over the horizon: a positive alpha means the model expects the stock to beat the market, whatever the market does. Ratings: strong buy ≥ +1.3%, buy ≥ +0.4%, sell < -0.7%, strong sell < -1.5% (top 15%, next 20%, middle 30%, next 20%, bottom 15% of the 2026-10-15 signals)
A free account shows the exact forecast, rating and rank of 3 tickers you follow, AZN included.
Follow AZN free90D Alpha forecasts of every company scored, cut into five relative ratings at the 15th, 35th, 65th and 85th percentiles (dashed lines).
Trailing twelve months. The industry median and the rank (1 = highest) are taken over the Pharmaceutical Preparations peers listed below that report each metric.
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $251.15B | 7/60 |
| P/E Ratio | 11.70x | 21/22 |
| EPS | $13.85 | – |
| Revenue/Share | $90.46 | – |
| FCF/Share | $20.96 | – |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| ROE | 44.5% | 2/33 |
| ROA | 19.0% | 3/39 |
| ROIC | 36.0% | 2/41 |
| Gross Margin | 81.8% | 16/30 |
| Operating Margin | 21.4% | 10/34 |
| Net Margin | 15.4% | 12/33 |
| EBT Margin | 19.0% | 14/41 |
| Tax Rate | 18.7% | – |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Current Ratio | 0.94x | 49/52 |
| Quick Ratio | 0.72x | 35/38 |
| D/E Ratio | 1.34x | 18/42 |
| Financial Leverage | 2.34x | 18/43 |
| Working Capital | -$1.89B | 51/52 |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $39.11B | 1/51 |
| Free Cash Flow | $32.48B | 1/42 |
| Capital Spending | -$6.62B | 42/42 |
| OCF Growth YoY | 32.6% | 7/28 |
| FCF Growth YoY | 0.0% | 16/25 |
| FCF/Sales | 23.2% | 12/36 |
| CapEx/Sales | 4.7% | 12/36 |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Asset Turnover | 1.23x | 3/38 |
| Receivables Turnover | 9.2x | 4/34 |
| Inventory Turnover | 3.9x | 3/29 |
| Fixed Assets Turnover | 10.8x | 14/39 |
| Days Sales Outstanding | 40 days | 31/34 |
| Days Inventory | 94 days | 27/29 |
| Payables Period | 362 days | 6/24 |
| Cash Conversion Cycle | -229 days | 21/22 |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $140.21B | 1/40 |
| Operating Income | $30.00B | 1/43 |
| Net Income | $21.64B | 1/41 |
| R&D Expense | $34.37B | 1/50 |
| SG&A Expense | $49.70B | 1/36 |
| Cost of Goods Sold | $25.50B | 2/29 |
| Metric | AZN | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Shares Outstanding | 1550M | – |
| Net Income Growth | 89.5% | 1/6 |
| EPS Growth | 89.2% | 1/8 |
| Total Current Assets | $28.72B | 25.2% of assets |
| Cash & Short-term Investments | $5.71B | 5.0% of assets |
| Accounts Receivable | $15.18B | 13.3% of assets |
| Inventory | $6.56B | 5.7% of assets |
| Total Liabilities | $65.36B | 57.3% of assets |
| Short-term Debt | $5.34B | 4.7% of assets |
Companies classified under the same SEC industry code as Astrazeneca Plc (Pharmaceutical Preparations): 60 common-stock issuers with a forecast this week, one row per issuer, largest first. This is a classification match, not a curated list of competitors.
Reveal all forecasts · See exact % predictions for all competitors
Sign up free| Company | 90-Day AI Forecast (Alpha) | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|
| AZN Astrazeneca Plc | ▼ | $251.15B |
| LLY Eli Lilly & Co | ▲ | $1.14T |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | ▼ | $611.90B |
| ONC Beone Medicines Ltd. | ▶ | $519.53B |
| ABBV Abbvie Inc. | ▶ | $500.94B |
| MRK Merck & Co., Inc. | ▼ | $363.59B |
| NVS Novartis Ag | ▼ | $280.27B |
| GSK Gsk Plc | ▼ | $206.58B |
| ABT Abbott Laboratories | ▼ | $179.05B |
| PFE Pfizer Inc | ▲ | $166.49B |
| VRTX Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc / Ma | ▼ | $126.35B |
| BMY Bristol Myers Squibb Co | ▶ | $121.09B |
| REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▶ | $80.14B |
| SNY Sanofi | ▼ | $48.50B |
| TEVA Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd | ▶ | $47.45B |
| RPRX Royalty Pharma Plc | ▲ | $33.92B |
| ZTS Zoetis Inc. | ▼ | $31.11B |
| TAK Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd | ▼ | $30.24B |
| ALNY Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▶ | $30.04B |
| ATHE Alterity Therapeutics Ltd | ▶ | $25.65B |
| ZLAB Zai Lab Ltd | ▼ | $25.26B |
| ROIV Roivant Sciences Ltd. | ▶ | $24.28B |
| UTHR United Therapeutics Corp | ▼ | $23.16B |
| INSM Insmed Inc | ▶ | $21.36B |
| VTRS Viatris Inc | ▶ | $20.03B |
| ASND Ascendis Pharma A/S | ▲ | $14.97B |
| JAZZ Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc | ▶ | $13.61B |
| BBIO Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | ▶ | $12.69B |
| CORT Corcept Therapeutics Inc | ▲ | $12.56B |
| KNSA Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, Plc | ▲ | $12.30B |
| SMMT Summit Therapeutics Inc. | ▶ | $12.07B |
| HCM Hutchmed (China) Ltd | ▶ | $11.76B |
| ELAN Elanco Animal Health Inc | ▼ | $11.27B |
| BMRN Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc | ▶ | $10.67B |
| RDY Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd | ▼ | $10.64B |
| MDGL Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▶ | $10.63B |
| PTGX Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc | ▲ | $8.82B |
| CYTK Cytokinetics Inc | ▲ | $8.82B |
| AXSM Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | ▲ | $8.50B |
| ARWR Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▲ | $8.25B |
| ABVX Abivax S.A. | ▼ | $7.68B |
| IONS Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc | ▶ | $7.10B |
| LEGN Legend Biotech Corp | ▶ | $7.04B |
| SYRE Spyre Therapeutics, Inc. | ▲ | $6.93B |
| PRAX Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. | ▶ | $6.67B |
| ALKS Alkermes Plc. | ▲ | $6.56B |
| AMRX Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▶ | $6.04B |
| BLTE Belite Bio, Inc | ▲ | $6.01B |
| RYTM Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▶ | $5.97B |
| LGND Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc | ▼ | $5.88B |
| BLRX Biolinerx Ltd. | ▶ | $5.43B |
| MIRM Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▲ | $5.19B |
| ERAS Erasca, Inc. | ▲ | $5.14B |
| TVTX Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | ▲ | $5.02B |
| PTCT Ptc Therapeutics, Inc. | ▶ | $4.98B |
| COGT Cogent Biosciences, Inc. | ▶ | $4.88B |
| MANE Veradermics, Inc | ▲ | $4.74B |
| GPCR Structure Therapeutics Inc. | ▲ | $4.68B |
| DNTH Dianthus Therapeutics, Inc. /De/ | ▲ | $4.18B |
| INDV Indivior Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ▲ | $4.03B |
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Our AI ranks Astrazeneca Plc outside the neutral middle of its coverage (a directional signal). Create a free account and follow it to see the exact price target.
For AZN, the Spearman rank correlation between our 90-day forecasts and the returns that followed is 6.0%, measured on 358 forecast dates between 2022-07-28 and 2026-07-17 on this stock's own recent history. A rank correlation runs from -100% to +100%: it measures whether higher forecasts were followed by higher returns, and a value near zero or below means the model has shown little skill on this stock. On the 30-day forecasts the same correlation is 10.0%, measured on 400 forecast dates between 2022-07-28 and 2026-09-15. Across our coverage, the out-of-sample test on 4495 stocks from 2025-01-06 to 2026-07-07 produced a positive net return in 82.5% of rebalance periods (factor-neutral book, net of estimated costs). Full backtest report
Astrazeneca Plc forecasts are refreshed on trading days as the daily model run completes. The forecast on this page was produced on Oct. 15, 2026.
60 issuers in our coverage, AZN included, share the SEC industry code Pharmaceutical Preparations. The largest are: Eli Lilly & Co (LLY), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Beone Medicines Ltd. (ONC), Abbvie Inc. (ABBV), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK), Novartis Ag (NVS).
This analysis is generated automatically using our proprietary AI systems and should not be considered personalized investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always conduct your own research and consider consulting a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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