AstraZeneca Sees Profit Growth In 2021 Despite COVID-19 Vaccine Controversy - AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)

AstraZeneca plc (NASDAQ: AZN) expects profit growth to pick up this year after announcing better than expected quarterly drug sales, with demand for its cancer and other therapies cushioning the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Fourth-quarter net income rose to $1.01 billion from $313 million a year ago. Drug sales increased 11% to $7.41 billion, driven by a 24% increase in cancer treatments. Sales from AstraZeneca's best-selling drug Tagrisso soared 31%. AstraZeneca clocked $2 million in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine, which it has pledged to supply on a non-profit basis during the pandemic, and said it would begin reporting sales of the vaccine separately starting in the next quarter.
This year, the company expects total revenue to rise by a low-teens percentage, accompanied by faster growth in core EPS to $4.75 to $5.00. The guidance does not incorporate any revenue or profit impact from sales of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The full-year dividend would remain unchanged at $2.80 per share.
$39 billion Alexion takeover is due to close in the third quarter. One deal motivator was profitability, and the company said when announcing the transaction. The company said that guidance for the year might be revised once the deal has been completed.
Recently, the COVID-19 vaccine jab was temporarily excluded from South Africa's immunization campaign over questions about its effectiveness against a new strain of the virus first identified in the country.
The company also said that it is working with the University of Oxford to adapt its COVID-19 vaccine to protect against new strains of the virus and hopes to cut the time needed to produce large amounts of any new vaccine to between six and nine months.
Yesterday, AstraZeneca said it plans to accelerate production of its COVID-19 in the second quarter to support EU needs, in a deal with Germany's IDT Biologika.
Have a look at the earnings presentation here.
Price Action: AZN stock is 0.90% at $50.42 in premarket on the last check Thursday.
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