Astrazeneca tops expectations in the first quarter on strong cancer drug sales

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CAMBRIDGE, Britain (AP) — Astrazeneca on Wednesday reported first-quarter profit of $3.08 billion.

The Cambridge, Britain-based company said it had net income of $1.99 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were $2.58 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.57 per share.

The pharmaceutical posted revenue of $15.29 billion in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $14.96 billion.

Astrazeneca shares have increased almost 2% since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased 34% in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AZN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AZN