Why AstraZeneca Topped the Market on Thursday

A fresh earnings release was the news development powering AstraZeneca's (NASDAQ: AZN) share price higher on Thursday. Investors were clearly impressed by the pharmaceutical company's numbers, as the stock closed the day more than 2% higher in value. This was notably better than the 0.4% bump of the S&P 500 index.

A crushing bottom-line beat

AstraZeneca unveiled both its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results before market open today, revealing that its total revenue was $14.89 billion. This represented a meaty 24% improvement over Q4 2023's figure. On the bottom line the company's "core" (i.e., non-GAAP) earnings per share rose even more sharply, advancing by 44% to $2.09.

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There was quite some distance between AstraZeneca's performance and analyst estimates for the quarter. On average, pundits following the company were anticipating it would post a lower revenue number ($14.15 billion) and a far lower adjusted net profit of $1.06 per share.

By far the largest contributor to AstraZeneca's top line is sales of its own medications. For the period the company did particularly well with oncology and respiratory and immunology treatments, the take for which rose 24% and 25% year over year, respectively. Cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism (CVRM) wasn't far behind with 20% growth.

A very effective player in its industry

AstraZeneca also proffered guidance for full-year 2025 in its earnings report. The company is estimating that its total revenue will rise at a high-single-digit percentage rate this year, on a constant-currency basis, compared to 2024. Core earnings per share should increase at a low double-digit percentage rate. It did not get more specific.

For me, the most encouraging news item within the report was the robust growth seen in most drug categories. If I were a shareholder, I'd also be impressed by the greater efficiencies driving that robust bottom-line improvement. AstraZeneca seems like a fine choice among global pharmaceutical stocks these days.

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends AstraZeneca Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.