The one stop source for breaking news, expert analysis, and podcasts on fast-moving AIM and LSE listed shares

Playing All the Right Notes - But Not Necessarily in the Right Order.

2020-06-06 09:50:06

Hello, Share Seekers. I’ve been l reviewing my general predictions for various sectors over the last three years. It amazes me how many forecasts proved right. Not sadly for the right reasons, though. Because nobody foresaw that the world would suffer the pandemic. However, perhaps our subconscious was warning us. It may more to do with correct share-picking than we tend to think.

AstraZeneca momentum love makes it #1 but don't chase it here!

2020-05-17 10:25:46

I learnt something new this weekend: AstraZeneca (AZN) is the biggest company on the UK market in terms of capitalisation, having doubled it in the last three-and-a-half years or so.  So well done to it, especially as a number of years back - in its shoes - I would have bitten off the corporate approach made by Pfizer and sold the company.  

This Giant Pharma is Working on Three Promising Fronts to Beat the Virus. Surely Its Shares Should Rise Before Long

2020-04-09 08:21:55

Hello, Share Collectors. Today’s choice is probably the last in my humble series of medical companies possibly to see fast-escalating share prices once the crisis is over. This is one of the biggest pharmas directly involved in the fight against the outbreak. I don’t hold shares in AstraZeneca (AZN), having chosen instead its big rival GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), but my finger will hover on the buy button once the outbreak peak is over...

The Compelling Case for Investing in the Growing Health Market.

2019-11-09 07:38:19

Hello, Share Folks. Allow me to suggest that there’s a compelling case, getting stronger by the week, for investing in pharmaceutical companies. For the more cautious among us, this will be the giants, like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca (AZN). Share prices in both are already buoyant and the divis are handy. But the more speculative investor will be trying for the huge rewards that a pharma mini can achieve if it strikes lucky with a drug it’s researching.

AstraZeneca Looks Set For a Healthy Share Price with Promising New Treatments in the Pipeline

2019-09-18 08:15:38

Hello Share Squabblers. Of the two great British giants in the pharmaceutical sector, I long ago chose to invest in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). But perhaps I should have opted for AstraZeneca (AZN) instead...

Huge Japanese Deal Could Boost the Shares of this Mighty Medical Mammoth

2019-04-10 08:11:08

Hello, Share Picklers. It’s obvious that medical companies are risky. But the smaller outfits provide more perilous opportunities. The giants seem big enough to absorb the failures and obstacles to obtaining the necessary licences. AstraZeneca (AZN), like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is a jumbo pharmaceutical company and is worth a look...

It Should Pay to Stick With AstraZeneca, but Patience Is Needed

2017-07-31 00:14:34

Hello, Share Spooners. Given the ageing and less healthy world population, I have often said that the big pharmaceuticals offer a buying opportunity. But as usual with medical advances, progress has been slow. I hold shares in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). But although I’ve often been tempted to dive into its big rival AstraZeneca (AZN), I have resisted the urge. Now I’m rather glad I did.

AstraZeneca (#AZN) – prices a $2bn bond issue

2017-06-05 23:53:46

AstraZeneca May Rise If New Drug Launches Come off

2017-03-21 01:23:09

One of the big pharmaceuticals which I think will prosper on the misfortunes of millions of people is AstraZeneca (AZN). This is not to say that the company is exploitative. Quite the opposite - its scientists are only trying to help.

AstraZeneca Escaped Take-Over by Americans, but Still Does a Germ-Zapping Deal with Uncle Sam

2016-08-30 00:03:23

Hello Share Smackers. If there is one sector which can be truly called defensive, it is the giant pharma world. Big drugs companies supply something that no-one in his or her right mind would give up - release from pain and suffering. So even when times are hard, medical giants will continue to make money.

A Safer Punt for Lovers of Pharma Shares.

2016-06-18 00:17:40

Hello Share Mongers. The case for investing in large pharma companies remains strong in my book. Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I see that health is the biggest concern we ought to have. What is money, if we're feeling lousy? Pretty worthless. But there is always a possible danger in investing in companies which produce treatments and drugs. I am heavily into quite a few medical pioneers and I sometimes worry that I should not be sleeping at nights.

As Cancer Treatments Advance it Could Be Time to Look Into AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline

2016-06-06 23:57:52

Hello Share Pitchers. My parents were so frightened of cancer that they refused to utter the word. As a result I had never even heard of the affliction until I was an advanced teenager. These days we all still fear the condition, but we perhaps should not do so as much as we used to. This is because treatments are becoming more effective year on year. It is still an appalling killer, though.

AstraZeneca (#AZN) reports positive results from trials of breast #cancer drug Faslodex

2016-05-26 23:39:06

I Spy With My Little ICI - a Giant Medical Pioneer Probably with a Healthy Future.

2016-01-23 00:20:06

Hello Share Shufflers.  Let’s have a butcher’s at AstraZeneca (AZN). I’ve been blowing the trumpet of quite a few medical punts in the last month or so. And, with a market cap of £54 billion, they don’t get much bigger than this one.

AstraZeneca (#AZN) - Q3 results, YTD EPS up 30%

2015-11-05 00:20:38

Ebola scare could boost AstraZeneca

2014-10-10 11:11:10

Drug maker AstraZeneca (AZN) was my tip of the year here at Shareprophets. So far this year the stock is up 16% against a drop of 6% on the FTSE 100. Of course at the time when I tipped Astrazeneca I had no idea Pfizer would bid for the company and there was no Ebola scare. 

Feel-Good Medical Shares Could Hit Higher Temperatures.

2014-09-01 06:51:55

Hello Share Collectors: There is a growing case for investing in companies, which sell or look for medical cures. I think the big British pharma companies are undervalued and worth a punt.

AstraZeneca Statement does not wash – tell the fat cat board to accept Pfizer bid

2014-05-19 06:48:25

The Board of AstraZeneca (AZN) has today rejected an improved £55 a share bid from Pfizer. The yanks say they will not go hostile but urge Astra shareholders to tell the board to get a grip and accept. They should do exactly that.

AstraZeneca – why Ed Miliband has got it 100% wrong and is being nasty to boot

2014-05-04 18:23:12

Ed Miliband wants the Government to step in and at least investigate if not block the proposed purchase of AstraZeneca (AZN) by Pfizer. He is wrong and showing a touch of UKIP style nastiness to boot.

Astra Zeneca, pipeline robust, share prophet indeed! Hold for bid details

2014-04-23 05:54:14

Were there dirty tricks afoot, when questions were raised about the strength of Astra Zeneca’s (AZN) pipeline? I recall it because I took the trouble to write a note in reply, on the 5th of March, rebutting the suggestion. I attributed this rumour to the fact that the share price had performed well and was full of profit having risen by more than a fifth since October 2013; thus presenting an opportunity for sell side business. How ironic that some six weeks later, the US drug company should be reported as sounding out the Anglo/Swedish AstraZeneca (AZN) about a bid it wishes to make for the company?

Astra Zeneca: first tipped at 3312p, now 4039p, should you take profits?

2014-03-06 07:41:32

I see that a broker (sorry, ‘investment banker’) has some questions about the strength of the AstraZeneca’s (AZN) pipeline of new products, which has improved significantly over the last year or so.

Tip of the Year 1 from Thierry Laduguie: Astrazeneca: a long term impulse wave up is in progress

2013-12-22 20:02:44

Share in Astrazeneca (AZN) have recently broken above their 2002 high of 3645p, this high was the previous all-time high on my chart. It’s taken more than eleven years for the stock to make a new all-time high, does this mark the start of another long term advance? Probably, 2014 should be a good year for shareholders. 

AstraZeneca’s bullish breakout

2013-11-14 12:47:11

Yesterday Panmure Gordon downgraded its stance on drug giant AstraZeneca (AZN) to Sell. The broker has a price target of 3,100p, the stock is currently trading at 3,280p. Based on the price target and estimated earning per share of 296p, the forward P/E ratio is 10.5. This appears too cheap for a drug company, the sector is trading on a forward P/E of 15. First, let’s see where the FTSE 100 is headed in the short term.

AstraZeneca – Speculative Buy

2013-10-29 16:00:29

The fact that AstraZeneca (AZN) has induced some good news - or rather prospects of good news - is a rare experience.

Astra Zeneca: Q1 results suggest derating possible

2013-05-01 14:55:37

With the first quarter’s results from Astra Zeneca (AZN) the curtain has gone up for the first act of what we all know will be a tough and difficult year; a stock market version of Gounod’s Faust but with a happier ending we trust. 

Astra Zeneca: reading the words and signs on annual dividends

2013-03-26 16:59:03

The new CEO of Astra Zeneca Pascal Soirot (which scans with Hercule Poirot very nicely) made his promised presentation on the strategy for returning the company to profits and earnings growth on Thursday 21 March. He appeared to do that with some degree of credibility because the share price was marked up the next day.