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NYSE:AZN

Astrazeneca P L C (AZN)

174.94
+0.01 (0.01%)
as of Jun 18, 2026, 11:54:20 pm Market Open.
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It's a Monthly Gems opinion which is available only for Stockchase Premium

Curated by Allan Tong since 2019.
99+ opinions with 4.15 rating.

TOP PICK
Paul McDonald also recommends GSK's peer, AstraZeneca (also trading in New York and London). The pharma is focusing on its pipeline of drugs that can't be easily replicated. A third of its sales comes from the U.S., plus 20% from China, which may actually be a tailwind in this context. The New York stock (AZN-N) pays a 2.87% dividend and the London one pays 2.95%
BUY

They have done what Pfizer is in the process of doing. They focused in on their pipeline with drugs that are difficult to replicate. Their immunotherapy drug has been doing well, and the chart looks great. The fundamentals of the business is good. Multiples are around 13x though one of the best EPS. He is generating good premiums on his positions.

HOLD
One of their perfect pharma holdings with well diversified and global holdings. It trades at a slight premium to the peer group, but that is warranted as it specializes in oncology. The company on has 33% of sales from the US which shelters itself somewhat from the politics of pharma. 20% of revenues come from China (where growth is 30% per year).
HOLD
AZN has a very deep phase-3 pipeline of drugs being tested and tried. The growth won't kick in until 2021-3. He loves their dividend. They've been shedding assets to focus on less price-sensitive areas. Earnings are 16x, going down to 14x in 2020. This will be a lighter quarter, because they aren't selling as many assets, but he's happy to own this.
HOLD
New oncology drugs. No problems owning it. If you're going to be in the pharma sector, buy one stock only. In the sector, half are up, and half are down. Yield is 3.3% and still growing, though not hugely.
PAST TOP PICK
(A Top Pick Dec 11/17, Up 30%) They'd been struggling for years, but developed a bunch of new drugs. He thinks this will rise a lot higher.
PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick December 11/17 - Up 18%) The whole health care sector heated up over the last year. Very safe stock to hold. Nice dividend.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick May 10/17, Up 16%) It's a diversified biopharma out of the UK. Surprised many by annoucning phase 2 drug trial in lung cancer--a frontrunner in this space. Their main drivers is their immunotherapy business. A great growth profile in the industry, but need to execute on a few of these trials in the next 6-12 months. Own it with BMY-N and MRK-N and not alone.

TOP PICK

Has an impressive line of new products that should hit the market over the next 10 years, in cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. They have underperformed for the last several years, and now is starting to turn the corner. Dividend yield of 4.28%. (Analysts’ Price Target is $38.)

BUY

It is rare he has puts on in his fund, but he does on this one. They have declining revenues, but a huge amount of data coming out about the next 12 to 18 months. We have seen the tip of the iceberg. He still likes it. It is not terribly expensive and has a high dividend. Own it with others for diversification. M&A would not surprise him in big pharma soon.

TOP PICK

A diversified pharmaceutical, sort of shifting their business away from traditional fields. They are in decline right now on revenues. You want to be holding this along with Merck and Bristol-Myers. They have a very key study coming out, taking an immuno oncology drug and combining it with another immuno oncology drug. That is going to be a very key catalyst. Dividend yield of 4.5%. (Analysts’ price target is $34.)

BUY

Pfizer failed to acquire this company and the stock has dropped a lot. This trades at 14X earnings and has a great dividend yield and a great cash flow yield. Not expensive. Have some great things in their pipeline in the next little while, which will help the company out. Healthcare is a nice defensive area to be in if you are really worried about the stock market. (See Top Picks.)

SELL ON STRENGTH
No, not a good entry point. Dividend for dividend sake it is a good stock. It is falling because Libitor is coming out of patent. It is an industry that is in a state of flux. It is falling off a patent cliff.
DON'T BUY
You would think pharmaceuticals would be very recession resistant but it turns out it is a little more economically sensitive than would be thought. One of his concerns with the big research and development companies has been the growth of the generic companies. Also is concerned with litigation risk.
COMMENT
Doesn't know this as well as some of the others. Stocks he likes the most in this sector are Abbott Labs (ABT-N) and Novartis (NVS-N), which have good pipelines and good growth potential.
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