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AstraZeneca is set to become Britain’s first £200bn company.
The pharmaceutical giant has “a lot of commercial momentum and new developments coming up” along with a “broad and deep” drug portfolio, according to broker TD Cowen.
The firm’s analysts highlighted what they believe could be three major breakthroughs for AstraZeneca this year.
This includes US and EU approval for the antibody drug Datopotamab deruxtecan which it is developing with Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo to treat patients with lung and breast cancer.
New drugs: AstraZeneca analysts highlighted what they believe could be three big developments for AstraZeneca this year
AstraZeneca is also awaiting further data on studies involving key drugs such as Imfinzi, Lynparza and Tagrisso.
And the company could unveil advances in its early-stage diabetes and obesity treatments at its Obesity Week conference in San Antonio, Texas, in November.
As a result, TD Cowen has raised its sales forecast for each year until the end of the decade and now expects AstraZeneca to make £61bn of revenue by 2030.
That’s slightly below the company’s own target of £63bn, although the broker said this suggests “room to rise”.
It also raised its target price for the pharmaceutical company to 14,860 pence. At that level, the company would be valued at £230 billion.
The shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 80p, to 12,780p, valuing it at around £198bn. This means AstraZeneca is close to becoming the first UK company to be valued at £200bn.
Shell (up 0.8 per cent, or 23p, to 2,799p), HSBC (up 0.2 per cent, or 1.4p, to 643.9p) and Unilever (down 0.3 per cent, or 16p, to 4,714p) are the only other blue chip companies worth more than £100bn.
Stock Watch: Celadon Pharmaceuticals
A cannabis-based medicine company has been hit by funding delays.
Celadon Pharmaceuticals said it is “tightly” managing its £48,000 cash position.
The AIM-listed company has faced delays in receiving funds from an investor who recently bought £1m of new shares alongside its request for £1m repayment of its £7m loan agreement with a lender.
The shares, which were trading at 165 pence in March 2022, fell 45.8 per cent, or 24.1 pence, to 28.5 pence.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent, or 42.15 points, to 8,210.25 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.3 percent, or 52.01 points, to 20,677.19.
Oil rose above $80 a barrel as tensions continued to rise in the Middle East.
A stockbroker’s downgrade hit JD Sports. Analysts at Deutsche Bank Research recommended their clients sell shares in the self-styled “King of Sneakers,” citing concerns about cash flow and low customer spending driving continued promotional discounts.
Shares fell 4.1 percent, or 5.1 pence, to 120.35 pence. Auction Technology was another stock to fall after analysts at Peel Hunt cut their annual sales forecast.
The broker cut its revenue estimate by 2 percent to £136 million for the year to the end of September due to concerns that prices will remain volatile in the second half.
Shares in Auction Technology, whose eight digital marketplaces allow traders to buy and sell items such as furniture, stamps and coins, fell 7 percent, or 31.5 pence, to 422 pence.
There was better news for drinks giant Diageo. Analysts at RBC upgraded their rating on the owner of Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Smirnoff to “sector perform” from “underperform”.
The improvement came despite the company being hit by a slowdown in business in Latin America and customer dislike of expensive drinks. The shares rose 1 percent, or 25 pence, to 2,451.5 pence.
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