The good news is that by putting aside as little as £30 a week early on in a career and investing this money in high-quality UK shares, someone can double this income. Here’s how.

Regular stock investments and compounding

On average, the UK stock market generates a return of around 8% a year over the long term. And with trading fees dropping drastically over the last two decades, investing has never been more accessible to the British public, even those earning the Minimum Wage.

But to keep fees as low as possible, it’s often best to put money into an interest-paying savings account each week, and then invest this capital at the end of each month.

For anyone putting £30 aside each week, that translates into an average of £130 available to invest each month. And assuming a portfolio matches the stock market’s average return, then after 40 years of compounding, a total of £453,831 is unlocked.

Following the 4% withdrawal rule, that’s enough to generate an additional retirement income of £18,153. And when combined with the current State Pension, that translates into a total passive income of just over £30,000 – more than double the government provides alone.

Of course, not everyone has 40 years ahead. But by making a few sacrifices to have more money for investments each week, the timeline can be drastically accelerated.

Which stocks should investors buy?

Over the next 20-40 years, the UK State Pension is likely to change. And with concerns about the long-term sustainability of the triple lock, Britons could end up with less support from the government in the future, highlighting why building additional retirement wealth is crucial.

But of course, the next question is, what stocks should investors consider buying?

Most investment advisors often recommend building out a solid foundation of boring but dependable industry giants. And today, AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) is ranked as one of the most recommended large-cap stocks for long-term investors building a new portfolio.

The biopharmaceutical giant has a vast portfolio of drugs targeting a wide range of diseases. And with management outlining its ambitions to grow revenues from $58.7bn in 2025 to over $80bn by 2030, the firm continues to invest heavily in its development pipeline.

With continuous structural demand for AstraZeneca’s products even during recessions, the business has proven to be remarkably resilient during economic wobbles. And it’s why it’s a popular favourite among both experts and everyday investors.

However, there are still risks. Drug patents eventually expire. And AstraZeneca has a few blockbuster treatments losing their protection in the coming years. That may not be a problem if new treatments replace the lost revenue. But drug development is notoriously challenging and, as such, it’s possible that the business falls short of its targets.

Nevertheless, with a long track record of success, AstraZeneca shares could be worth mulling for investors looking to start building a retirement portfolio that can generate a State Pension-beating passive income.

The post How to try and double the State Pension with just £30 a week appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

A decade ago, it was a lumbering, patent‑cliff‑ridden pharma giant. Today it is a high‑growth, oncology‑driven, research‑led machine with global scale and a pipeline that most rivals would kill for.

And from 8 April 2021 to now, a £20,000 holding in the stock would have grown into£44,108 once dividends are included. That is a share price gain of £21,143, plus another £2,965 in dividends, giving a total return of around 121%.

That said, I believe there is still a huge gap remaining between the stock’s price and its ‘fair value’. And experience has shown that share prices tend to converge to this fair value over time.

So, what sort of potential price gains are we looking at?

Strong growth momentum

A risk to AstraZeneca is any delay in the ramp‑up of key oncology launches that could squeeze its earnings. And it is ultimately growth in these that power any firm’s share price higher. Another is any regulatory or clinical setbacks across its late‑stage pipeline that could delay key products’ path to market.

However, analysts forecast that the company’s earnings will grow a very robust 13% a year over the medium term. And these projections look well supported by recent results.

Reported earnings per share (EPS) soared 45% year on year to $6.60 (£5), reflecting strong operating leverage and lower impairment charges. Revenue jumped 9%to $58.7bn, driven by Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, Respiratory & Immunology, and Rare Disease. And operating profit rose 9% to $18.49bn, powered by strong performances from Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Calquence and the accelerating antibody-drug cancer medicines portfolio.

Looking ahead, management expects mid‑to‑high single‑digit revenue growth and low double‑digit core EPS growth in 2026. AstraZeneca also reiterated its forecast that it will hit its 2030 target of $80bn in annual revenue.

Where ‘should’ the shares be trading?

In my experience as a former investment bank trader, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis is the optimal way to ascertain a share’s fair value.

It does this by projecting an underlying business’s future cash flows and then ‘discounting’ them back to today. The more uncertain those earnings are, the higher the return investors demand and the greater the discount applied.

Some analysts’ DCF modelling is more bearish than mine due to the inputs used. However, based on my DCF assumptions — including a 7.2% discount rate — AstraZeneca shares are 38% undervalued at their current £149.07 price.

Therefore, their fair value could secretly be close to £240.44 a share.

And because stocks can trade to their fair value over time, this price-to-value gap suggests a potentially terrific buying opportunity to consider today if those DCF assumptions hold.

My investment view

I believe the market is still underestimating AstraZeneca’s earnings power, driven by the rapid shift into a higher‑growth, innovation‑led business.

With analysts expecting double‑digit profit growth and management guiding to sustained expansion through to 2030, it looks much stronger than the share price implies.

So, I will be adding to my holding in the firm shortly and think it worthy of other investors’ attention.

I also have my eye on other high-growth stocks that look seriously undervalued.

The post £20,000 invested in AstraZeneca shares 5 years ago is now worth… appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

A breakthrough in COPD

The drug in question is tozorakimab, a monoclonal antibody that works by suppressing the protein interleukin-33 (IL-33). It reduces inflammation and disrupts the cycle of mucus dysfunction that drives chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD isn’t a niche condition — it’s the world’s third leading cause of death. The trial results showed the treatment reduced flare-ups in both former smokers and the broader patient population versus placebo.

What made the market sit up wasn’t just the data itself, but what it proved. Previous IL-33 drugs from Sanofi and Roche had failed and AstraZeneca’s results are the first two confirmatory Phase III trials for an IL-33 biologic. That’s a genuine scientific landmark, and that’s why the stock market’s paying attention.

Pharma can be hard to value

Here’s the honest truth. It took me a while to get my head around the announcement above. And I think a lot of investors would be the same position unless they had a strong background in biology, medicine etc.

That’s the issue with pharmaceutical companies for me: they’re extraordinarily difficult to analyse. The headline financials — revenues, margins, earnings growth — only tell half the story.

The real question is always what’s coming next? Answering that requires additional knowledge, which I and many others simply don’t have.

AstraZeneca, for example, has some 200 products in its pipeline — some more important and promising than others.

For most investors, pharma’s an act of faith as much as analysis — you’re betting on management and the depth of the pipeline as much as any spreadsheet metric. But the company should have the scientific grounding to cut through this complexity — and it’s notable that 26 brokers currently cover AstraZeneca with the consensus leaning firmly towards Buy. 

The valuation looks fair

AstraZeneca trades on a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) of around 19 times for 2026, representing a modest premium to the sector average and substantially higher than the average the UK average.

That might sound punchy, but the earnings growth forecast is strong and the three-year normalised EPS CAGR sits at over 26%. Profitability metrics are exceptional too, with return on equity of 22.9% and operating margins of 23.4%.

But, of course, things like the price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio don’t give us a full picture here. And that’s because the attraction of biotech and pharma is often long term due to ageing populations and expanding diagnosis rates.

So my view is that the valuation isn’t excessive for a company with this kind of pipeline depth and increasingly predictable growth. It’s worth considering at current levels, but I’d add that the margin of safety isn’t as strong as it once was.

The post What’s going on with the AstraZeneca share price now? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The thing they all have in common is an ability to make shareholders wealthier over time. Here are two established Footsie shares that I reckon are worth considering for a £20,000 ISA in April.

AstraZeneca

Let’s start with the largest of the lot, which is AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN). Currently, it has a £215bn market cap, putting it just ahead of HSBC (£206bn).

Including dividends, this world-class pharmaceuticals company has returned just over 100% in the past five years. Nice.

One thing I love about AstraZeneca is its geographic diversification. Around 40% of sales come from the US, the world’s largest healthcare market, but it also has decent exposure to China (11%) and the UK and Europe (about 15% collectively). Emerging markets revenue grew 12% last year.

Another thing to like is the reasonable valuation. Based on 2027 forecasts, the forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is 16.

There’s also a 1.9% yield forecast for next year. While modest, the payout is exceptionally well covered by expected earnings, suggesting the dividend should rise over time.

Then again, dividends are never set in stone. And changes in drug pricing in certain markets, as well as potential phase III trial failures, are unavoidable risks.

Stepping back, though, I’m still bullish on the stock. AstraZeneca has five multi-blockbuster cancer medicines (Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Calquence, Lynparza and Enhertu). Its oncology portfolio is growing in double digits, with Enhertu sales surging 40% last year.

We have more than 100 Phase III studies ongoing, including a substantial and growing number of trials of our transformative technologies, which have the potential to revolutionise outcomes for patients and drive our growth well beyond 2030.
AstraZeneca.

The UN predicts that the global population will reach 9.7bn by 2050, with an unprecedented ageing demographic. This is a powerful global trend for the pharmaceuticals sector.

Furthermore, AstraZeneca’s pipeline (and margins) could get a significant boost from artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery in the years ahead. I think this is currently underappreciated.

Aviva

The second blue-chip I think is worth looking at is Aviva (LSE:AV.). After its acquisition of Direct Line last year, the insurance company has over 25m customers in the UK, Ireland and Canada. More than 7m are multi-product holders.

Recently, the stock has slipped 10%, reflecting growing risks around the global economy, inflation and falling stock markets (it has a large asset management arm). However, this pullback puts the forward dividend yield at an attractive 6.8%.

Last year, group operating profit increased 25% to £2.2bn, with a target in place to achieve 11% annualised growth in operating earnings per share between 2025 and 2028. Part of this will involve repurchasing shares, starting with a £350m buyback.

Another key pillar of this growth will be more capital-light operations, particularly wealth and general insurance. Here, management says Aviva is in a “very strong position to deliver long-term growth“.

Finally, Aviva is rolling out virtual agents (agentic AI) that can handle simple claims calls from beginning to end via telephone. This tech innovation could significantly cut costs over time.

The forward P/E ratio here is just 10.5.

The post 2 FTSE 100 blue-chips to consider for a new £20k Stocks and Shares ISA appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

So what are the best five stocks to buy right now? This is what the experts are recommending.

Five top UK picks from the pros

Like most investors, professional analysts from financial institutions are constantly searching for opportunities in the stock market to recommend to their clients.

Over the last few months, many have revealed their highest conviction UK stock picks for 2026 to buy and hold for the long run. And some recurring names appear when looking at the recommendations from institutions like UBS, Peel Hunt, AJ Bell, and others.

In order of market-cap, the list is:

• AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN).
• RELX.
• London Stock Exchange Group.
• 3i Group.
• Games Workshop.

So problem solved? Not quite. As talented as the experts are, they’re sadly not always right.

Shifts in the economic landscape, consumer preferences, regulatory shifts, and a plethora of other unforeseen forces can potentially derail even the most promising investment ideas.

That’s why investors must do a bit of digging to understand exactly what the opportunities are and the risks they face. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the largest stock on this list – AstraZeneca.

Risk versus reward

With a market-cap of £240bn, AstraZeneca’s one of the largest pharmaceutical giants in the world. Yet that doesn’t mean the growth story’s over.

In 2024, management laid out its ambition to grow revenue to $80bn by 2030. That’s 36% higher than the $58.7bn achieved in 2025. And with an impressive pipeline of new drugs in late-stage development, alongside an impressive compounding expansion of its oncology treatments, the company’s seemingly on track to hit this goal. It may even surpass it.

However, there are two prominent headwinds for investors to watch closely:

1. China.
2. Patent cliff concerns.

Last month, AstraZeneca’s former China head, Leon Wang, was formally charged with illegal trading, among other alleged crimes. And the company’s Chinese subsidiary has also been indicted.

China represented just over 10% of AstraZeneca’s revenue stream last year, and it serves as a critical expansion market for long-term growth. But if it loses this legal battle, AstraZeneca’s China expansion ambitions could be compromised.

Such an outcome is only made worse by the impending expiration of multiple blockbuster drug patents.

Management’s seeking to offset the anticipated incoming loss of future revenues by launching new treatments. But any delays in regulatory approval or late-stage clinical trial failures could similarly cause the firm to fall short of its $80bn revenue target.

What’s the verdict?

Even with the risks, there’s a lot to be bullish about when looking at AstraZeneca shares today. And the pharma giant definitely warrants a closer inspection from investors looking for quality long-term stock picks to add to their Stocks and Shares ISA.

The same is true for the other companies on this list. But just like AstraZeneca, they also have their own skeletons in the closet that could lead to disappointing results. Only by understanding both the risk and potential reward can investors hope to build sustainable wealth in the stock market.

The post Are these the top 5 UK shares to buy in a Stocks and Shares ISA and hold forever? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The trick is not to start with wild bets, but with steady, boring companies that don’t swing around too much and have long, predictable histories. This way, you can get a feel for how things work before taking on any real risk.

What makes a stock ‘safe’?

No investment is 100% safe, but some are naturally calmer than others. Large companies with steady profits and high demand tend to move less than smaller, speculative firms.

With larger market-caps, one bad headline doesn’t move the price as much. Earnings grow steadily and they usually operate in areas with consistent demand. Think banking, healthcare, retail.

Here are three stocks to consider. They’re not risk‑free, but they can be a gentle way to get used to the ups and downs without feeling sick every time you check your portfolio.

Lloyds: a UK ‘thermometer’

Lloyds (LSE: LLOY) is one of the UK’s biggest banks and a decent starter stock because it tends to move with the wider British economy. If the UK’s doing well, Lloyds usually is too, so it acts like a quick ‘temperature check’ on the market.

In 2025, income grew 8% and earnings increased from 6.3p to 7p per share, which shows fairly steady progress. On top of that, it boosted its dividend to 3.65p per share for 2025, a 15% increase. Add share buybacks and that’s a strong signal for income‑focused investors.

The flip side is that it’s very exposed to the UK. If interest rates fall or the housing market struggles, bank profits can get squeezed and the share price can wobble.

F&C Investment Trust: simple diversification

F&C Investment Trust (LSE: FCIT) is like a ready‑made basket of shares rather than a single company. It holds a large portfolio of global stocks, so one bad egg doesn’t ruin the whole omelette.

The main risk is that, in a big global downturn, markets tend to fall together. So the trust’s share price could still drop sharply despite its diversity.

But the trust has a market-cap around £5.9bn and currently trades at roughly an 8% discount to its net asset value (NAV). That means investors could snap it up for less than the combined value of its assets.

It’s also grown its dividend steadily over many years, with a yield of around 1.3% recently. That’s backed by strong earnings coverage from its many underlying firms.

AstraZeneca: healthcare heavyweight

AstraZeneca‘s (LSE: AZN) currently the largest company in the FTSE 100 by market-cap, at roughly £240bn. That makes it a heavyweight anchor for many UK portfolios.

The risk here is less about people stopping their medicines and more about drug trials failing, pricing pressure, or patents expiring. As a global business, it’s also affected by exchange rates and health‑policy changes in big markets like the US and Europe.

But it’s still a crucial business. It sells medicines for serious conditions including cancer and heart disease, where demand’s usually stable regardless of the economic cycle. 

Earnings and dividends have grown over time, with the dividend yield around 1.7% and a payout ratio just below 50%. That leaves more than enough earnings to reinvest in the business.

The post Get started on the stock market: 3 ‘safe’ shares for beginner UK investors to consider appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

The post from Citrini Research even caused a number of stocks mentioned to drop sharply on Monday (23 February). These included DoorDash, American Express, and (fittingly) Monday.com.

What did this post say? And how worried should we be?

The AI revolution is paradoxical

The lengthy post in question — entitled The 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis — describes a fictional future where AI rapidly displaces human labour.

A negative feedback loop emerges where companies, facing margin pressure, replace white-collar workers with AI. This soon reduces consumer spending, leading to further layoffs. 

Meanwhile, autonomous AI agents do more tasks for consumers (insurance renewals, travel booking, shopping, etc). Unlike humans, AI agents aren’t loyal to apps like Uber or Booking, so a huge amount of enterprise value is destroyed.

The S&P 500 starts crashing.

Jobs become harder to find and the crisis threatens the $13trn residential US mortgage market as white-collar incomes vanish. 

The paradox here is that this scary scenario is only possible if AI truly succeeds, not fails.

Some perspective

As alarming as all this sounds, it’s important to remember this is just an imagined scenario/warning, not a prediction.

Second, the 2028 timeframe is deliberately provocative. There’s no conclusive evidence AI is causing massive layoffs, while the physical AI buildout is creating jobs. So the economy appears in no immediate danger.

Moreover, elected governments are not passive observers. If unemployment were to rapidly reach the 10%+ described in the Citrini piece, we would likely see regulatory intervention to slow the pace of AI deployment.

Further down the line, measures like Universal Basic Income or job-retraining programmes could be funded by AI productivity taxes.

Today, generative AI still hallucinates. In regulated industries (finance, law, medicine, etc), a human with the proper authority still has to sign off.

Finally, nobody can predict exactly when a crash will happen.

Diversification

But we should at all times be ready for a big crash, whether it’s generated by AI, a pandemic, a financial crisis or something else. As I see it, there are there basic things we can do to prepare for the worst:

• Don’t panic
• Build up cash to buy wonderful companies at lower prices.
• Focus on diversification

This last part is crucial. In my portfolio, I hold AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN). To my mind, the pharma giant looks more likely to benefit from the technology than be disrupted by it.

AI drug discovery, for example, should significantly increase the chances of a drug candidate succeeding in trials, as well as lowering costs and boosting margins. The firm is already leaning heavily into the technology in research and development.

Admittedly, a forward earnings multiple of 19 isn’t cheap. If the company’s growth unexpectedly slows, the stock could sell off.

On balance, however, I’m bullish on AstraZeneca moving forward. It now has 16 blockbuster medicines (those generating at least $1bn in annual sales).

By 2030, it’s aiming for $80bn in revenue, up from $58.7bn last year, driven by its massive pipeline and valuable oncology portfolio. 

I think AstraZeneca is worth considering today for a diversified Stocks and Shares ISA.

The post Be ready for a savage stock market crash appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

But the reality is that the firm delivers strong growth across multiple franchises, supported by a visibly productive and expanding late-stage pipeline. The difference between perception and reality leaves it trading at a significant discount to its ‘fair value’.

So, how high can the shares go?

Perception versus reality

AstraZeneca’s recent 2025 results show anything but the ageing pharma giant the market still seems to be pricing in.

It delivered 8% year on year revenue growth to $58.74bn (£43.13bn), and a 9% rise in operating profit to $18.49bn. This pushed earnings per share up 11% to $9.16.

These numbers were powered especially by oncology sales, which jumped 13% to $25.6bn. This reflected strong performances from Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Calquence and AstraZeneca’s accelerating antibody-drug cancer medicines portfolio. Meanwhile, BioPharma revenue increased 5% to $23bn, and Rare Disease medicines sales rose 3% to $9.1bn.

Even more positively for the future were 16 positive Phase 3 studies in 2025, leading to 16 ‘blockbuster’ medicines. Phase 3 readouts are the final testing stage for a new drug before it goes for final regulatory approval. And a blockbuster is defined as a medicine that generates over $1bn in annual global sales.

A risk to continued strong earnings growth would be multiple failures in this pipeline process. Medicines are extremely costly to develop, so several failures could dent the firm’s earnings over time.

However, in the 2025 results release, AstraZeneca reiterated that it expects to hit its 2030 target of $80bn in annual revenue. The consensus forecast of analysts is that its earnings (‘profits’) will rise by an annual average of 12% over the medium-term (to end-2028) at minimum.

Where should it be priced?

To nail down AstraZeneca’s true worth, I ran a discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. This estimates any share’s fair value by projecting the future cash flows of the underlying business. It then discounts them back to today, using a rate reflecting the risk of owning the shares.

In AstraZeneca’s case, I used a discount rate of 7.2% and a perpetual growth rate of 3% (the five-year average UK 10-year gilt yield). Other DCF models may use different assumptions, which could produce lower (or higher) valuations.

However, my DCF modelling suggests AstraZeneca shares are 34% undervalued at their current £150.89 price.

That implies a fair value of £228.62 — and the gap between this and its current price is critical for long-term investors. This is because asset prices tend to converge to their fair value in the long run.

So, in this case, it suggests a potentially terrific buying opportunity to consider today if those DCF assumptions hold.

My investment view

AstraZeneca’s latest results and pipeline progress suggest its growth profile remains stronger than the market assumes.

My DCF analysis indicates a sizeable valuation gap that long-term investors may find attractive.

So I, for one, will be adding to my holding in the stock very shortly.

The post Below £151, here’s why AstraZeneca’s share price looks a steal to me under £228.62 after strong 2025 results appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

This could be a problem if this exciting technology lives up to the claims of being transformative to our economy and way of life. An investor looking to take advantage of the AI revolution should look elsewhere, right?

Why large language models?

Not so fast!

While some of the main players in AI are big tech firms like Nvidia, Alphabet or Palantir, the companies that might benefit the most from it might not be the ones producing the chips or the algorithms at all. And because of their lack of direct involvement, the shares could be undervalued today.

There are perhaps a number of stocks that fit the bill here, but the one I’m curious about today is AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN). The £220bn market cap pharma giant has been making headlines already in 2026. The firm recently acquired Boston-based Modella AI whose ‘AI agents’ can be used to help oncology research.

Why can AI help pharmaceuticals companies? Drug discovery is the main advantage. Sifting through vast quantities of data is AI’s forte, and this can help identify potential drug targets. Speedier discovery can help big companies find those ‘blockbuster drugs’ that help millions of patients and bump up the bottom line.

The journey from drug discovery to release is a long one. So the fruits of the introduction of AI might not be felt for five to 10 years. In this vein, CEO Pascal Soriot has set an $80bn target for AstraZeneca’s revenue by 2030. Therefore this is the kind of long-term play that we like to aim for here at The Motley Fool.

Upcoming years

What are the negatives here? Well, it’s an expensive and ruthlessly competitive space. We’ve seen this with the so-called obesity race where drug manufacturers have been clamouring to get appetite-suppressing drugs out to a very hungry market (pun intended).

AstraZeneca is lagging behind Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in this area. Although the recent deal with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to use an AI-driven platform to develop weight loss drugs might be another example where artificial intelligence helps the business.

Another potential downside is the valuation. AstraZeneca has proven itself to be one of the bona fide FTSE 100 growth stocks. It’s now (depending on the day) sometimes the largest Footsie company and is trading at 30 times earnings. Pretty expensive for London’s leading index!

To sum up? We’re in the very early stages of artificial intelligence. Over the next decade, we could see some drastic changes in the fortunes of many businesses using the technology. I think AstraZeneca has a real chance of being one of the winners. Maybe not a no-brainer but I’d say it’s worth consideration.

The post Is this FTSE 100 behemoth a no-brainer AI stock? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Its robust, cash‑generative earnings, strong research and development output, and broad and deep product pipeline all underpin this strength.

Yet the sum of these factors appear to be inadequately reflected in the current share price.

So, where should the stock be trading, according to my valuation modelling?

One risk removed and growth ahead?

One factor I believe has kept the stock price in check is uncertainty about the UK listing. Several news outlets reported last year that CEO Pascal Soriot discussed moving AstraZeneca’s primary listing to the US.

This would have required UK investors to hold US-listed shares and deal with dollar-denominated trading, tax considerations, and currency exposure. The idea now appears to have been shelved, but the episode clearly unsettled investors — myself included.

One risk still in play is failure in any of its multiple drug development pipeline. These programmes are extremely expensive in terms of time and money.

Nevertheless, the consensus forecast of analysts is that AstraZeneca’s earnings will grow by an average 13% a year to end-2028. And it is this that ultimately powers any firm’s share price over time.

That momentum looks firmly underpinned to me by its strengthening oncology franchise, with multiple late-stage assets carrying clear blockbuster potential. It is also supported by accelerating R&D progress driven by recent AI-focused acquisitions.

Do recent results back this up?

AstraZeneca’s latest numbers — first nine months (9M) and Q3 of 2025 — saw 9M revenue rise 10% year on year to $43.2bn. This was driven by growth across all divisions, including 16% in oncology. Meanwhile, earnings per share (EPS) jumped 43% to $5.10.

Momentum strengthened further in Q3, with revenue up 12% to $15.2bn, ahead of analysts’ expectations of $14.79bn. EPS soared 77% to $1.64.

The company also highlighted 16 positive Phase III readouts and 31 regulatory approvals, underscoring the depth of its late-stage pipeline. These readouts are the final testing stage for a new drug before it goes for final regulatory approval.

At the same time, management reiterated its target to deliver $80bn of revenue by 2030, up from $54.073bn in 2024.

How big a bargain is the stock?

A discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis identifies where a stock should trade by projecting future cash flows and discounting them back to today. This reflects the consensus earnings growth forecasts of analysts.

Different DCF models produce different outcomes depending on the assumptions used. However, based on my DCF assumptions, including a 7.1% discount rate, AstraZeneca shares are 45% undervalued at their current £140.30 price. That implies a fair value of roughly £255.09.

And because asset prices can gravitate towards their fair value over time, the modelling points me to a compelling long-term buying opportunity if these assumptions hold.

My investment view

AstraZeneca’s resilient growth, deep pipeline and clear undervaluation leave me optimistic about its long‑term prospects.

I plan to increase my own holding very soon, as the investment case continues to strengthen.

I believe the stock also deserves attention from investors willing to look past any short-term noise and focus on fundamentals.

The post With 13% annual earnings growth forecast and 45% under ‘fair value’, should I buy more of this FTSE giant now? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.