HSBC has downgraded AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, NASDAQ:AZN) to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, arguing that a recent trial failure has removed the central pillar of its bull case and left a tougher path ahead.
The bank cut its target price to 13,750p from 16,500p, implying limited upside
The downgrade follows the failure of the Wainua phase III trial in a form of heart disease to meet its primary endpoint. HSBC said success in that study had underpinned its positive stance, and the outcome was worse than either it or management had expected. Analyst Rajesh Kumar had rated the drug a more than $5 billion market opportunity for AstraZeneca.
The bank gave three reasons for losing conviction. It said the path to more than $80 billion in peak revenues by 2030 still existed but now relied on more volatile catalysts, most of which read out in 2027. It also flagged discomfort with two oncology readouts due in the second half of 2026, the SERENA-4 breast cancer trial and the AVANZAR lung cancer study, both of which it views as high risk.