What Do Analysts Estimate for AstraZeneca in the Future?
Why AstraZeneca Investors Should Expect a Revenue Fall in 4Q15
Analyst estimates
AstraZeneca (AZN) has surpassed estimates for earnings per share (or EPS) in the past six out of eight quarters, and analysts estimate AstraZeneca to generate an EPS of $0.47 on sales of $6.2 billion in 4Q15, a 23% increase in EPS over 4Q14.
In addition to this, EPS is estimated at $0.58 for 1Q16, $0.59 for 2Q16, $0.50 for 3Q16, and $0.94 for 4Q16.
Annual estimates
For 2015, analysts estimate EPS at $2.13 as compared to $4.28 for 2014. Further, analyst estimates show an EPS of $2.04 for 2016, $2.04 for 2017, and $2.34 for 2018.
The company’s revenues are expected to decrease by ~6.4% to $24.4 billion for 2015, by ~3.9% to $23.5 billion for 2016, and ~0.9% to $23.3 billion for 2017. Gross margin is expected to improve by ~5.9% at around 83.5% in 2015 as compared to 77.6% in 2014 but is projected to decline to 82.8% in 2016 and 82.2% in 2017. Gross margin has improved due to higher profitability in acquired products and also due to increased sales of high profitability products. The operating profit margin is expected to increase to ~28.6% for 2015 as compared to 8.2% for 2014. It is expected to be around 28.4% for both 2016 and 2017.
The Market Vectors Pharmaceutical ETF (PPH) has invested 4.5% of its portfolio in AstraZeneca, 6.9% in Novartis (NVS), 5.4% in Pfizer (PFE), and 5.0% in Merck and Co. (MRK). Investors can also consider ETFs like the First Trust Value Line Dividend ETF (FVD), which holds ~0.5% of its total assets in AstraZeneca, in order to divest the risk.
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