{"id":1128998,"date":"2026-08-04T02:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1128998\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T02:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T02:12:53","slug":"analysts-baffled-by-astrazenecas-interest-in-bristol-myers-squibb-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1128998\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysts baffled by AstraZeneca’s interest in Bristol Myers Squibb"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Analysts<\/a> Analysts baffled by AstraZeneca’s interest in Bristol Myers Squibb Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock <\/p>\n

AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, NASDAQ:AZN)<\/a>\u00a0shares fell 6% to 11,872p on Monday, the steepest decline in the FTSE 100, as analysts struggled to explain why Britain’s largest drugmaker would want to buy Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY, XETRA:RM, OTC:BMYMP)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Jefferies described the reported talks as more than a ‘head scratcher’. <\/p>\n

The broker, which rates the stock ‘buy’ with a 17,500p price target, said it was perplexed by the news given the strength of AstraZeneca’s own growth and innovation profile. <\/p>\n

If there is one company that does not need financial engineering, Jefferies said, it is AstraZeneca. <\/p>\n

The bank acknowledged a deal would create the broadest oncology portfolio in the industry. <\/p>\n

But it argued pipeline assets could be sourced more cheaply elsewhere, as AstraZeneca has been doing in China, and that Bristol’s cardiovascular business would be merely incremental. <\/p>\n

Using a large quantity of premium equity to buy a company on a low earnings multiple struck the analysts as drastic. <\/p>\n

Bristol trades on roughly 11 times forecast 2027 earnings against AstraZeneca’s 15 times, a discount that reflects looming patent expiries on Eliquis and Opdivo. <\/p>\n

Jefferies calculated near-term earnings accretion could reach double digits, but said accretion is rarely a good way to judge a big strategic move. <\/p>\n

Its central objection was timing.\u00a0Bristol’s portfolio would add roughly $30 billion of exclusivity losses that arrive before AstraZeneca’s own patent cliff, which falls after 2030. <\/p>\n

UBS, which also rates the stock ‘buy’ with a 17,600p target, said it was surprised by the reports and reached a similar conclusion from a different direction. <\/p>\n

The Swiss bank noted that big pharmaceutical mergers have historically damaged research productivity, as staff focus on job security during integration rather than the science. <\/p>\n

The industry has since pivoted towards large bolt-on deals, such as AstraZeneca’s purchase of Alexion, which add a new adjacency rather than overlapping operations. <\/p>\n

UBS also flagged extensive overlap across solid tumours, blood cancers and cardiovascular medicine, with clear duplication between marketed products including Imfinzi and Opdivo. <\/p>\n

That would drive substantial cost savings, but would also invite a deep competition review and probable divestitures. <\/p>\n

Jefferies raised a political dimension too, noting AstraZeneca would be a British acquirer of one of America’s large pharmaceutical companies at a time when Washington is preoccupied with domestic manufacturing. <\/p>\n

UBS wondered aloud whether the reports might in fact relate to a narrower partnership on a single product or franchise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Analysts baffled by AstraZeneca’s interest in Bristol Myers Squibb Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1128999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[8295,381,23890,748,307195,393,4884,230537,16,15],"class_list":["post-1128998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-astrazeneca","tag-bristol","tag-bristol-myers-squibb","tag-britain","tag-cardiovascular-business","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-jefferies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117034824912243869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1128999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}