Deutsche Bank upgrades Astrazeneca to 'hold'

(Sharecast News) - Deutsche Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from 'sell' to 'hold' on Tuesday and nudged its price target up from 11,500p to 11,700p, saying the risk‑reward scenario had shifted following last week's negative SERENA-4 readout and a period of underperformance against European large‑cap peers. The broker noted that the stock has fallen around 3% in absolute terms since its downgrade last October and lagged the sector by roughly 10% on an FX‑adjusted basis.

It said part of the weakness reflected factors it had anticipated - including second‑half event risk and patent‑cliff concerns - while other pressures, such as developments around Wainua and Bristol Myers, were less expected.

Deutsche Bank added that while it did not view Monday's sector bounce as fundamentally driven or likely to persist into the US mid‑terms, Astrazeneca's valuation now looked more balanced, prompting the move to 'hold'.









Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com