We recently published a list of the 10 Most Profitable European Stocks to Invest In. In this article, we are going to take a look at where AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) stands against the other profitable European stocks to buy.

How Could Trump’s Trade Tariffs Impact Europe?

After the U.S. Presidential elections, the global economies might face trade tariff tribulation as the Trump administration is expected to accelerate the trade war. China and Europe are especially expecting Trump’s potential trade policies that can heat the trade war. In addition, the rising perturbation around Germany’s upcoming snap election is a sign of worry for investors. Since the US elections, European stocks have retreated, outflows have increased, and the euro has slid against the U.S. dollar.

According to the European Central Bank’s chief economist, Philip Lane, if global trade feels more of a burden, the global economic output would suffer a sizable loss. “Trade fragmentation entails sizeable output losses,” said Lane, during a speech in Amsterdam. Lane anticipates a potential hit on the global output at between 2%, in case of partial trade restrictions, and almost 10% if a full ban is imposed.

Furthermore, the leading banks including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citi have pointed out the euro as one of the most vulnerable currencies to Trump’s tariff agenda. Considering the region’s manufacturing exports and dependence on China, Europe could be exposed to trade tariff consequences.

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The United Kingdom’s inflation rate fell noticeably to 1.7% in September, just below the ECB’s 2% target for the first time since April 2021. On November 7, the Bank of England announced the rate cut by 25 basis points, bringing its key rate to 4.75%. The U.K.’s central bank has cut rates by a combined 75 basis points to 3.25% in 2024 so far. Investors expect the central bank to further cut rates during the next meeting in December.

Europe’s stock market has some interesting stocks that investors would want to keep in their portfolios to avoid too much concentration on U.S. assets. The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 has plunged nearly 2% since the U.S. elections, however, the index is up 11% over the last year, as of November 23.

With that, let’s take a look at how profitable AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) has been over the years.

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 10 most profitable European stocks to invest in, we scanned European stocks through Finviz Screener using two indicators. We shortlisted the stocks with a minimum net income of $1 billion or more in the trailing twelve months (TTM) and with a 5-year net income compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15%. From that list, we narrowed our choices to the 10 stocks that analysts see the most upside to. The list is ranked in ascending order of analysts’ average upside potential, as of November 22.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN)

Upside Potential: 36.94%

5-Year Net Income CAGR: 25.87%

TTM Net Income: $6.49 Billion 

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is a leading biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, and sells prescription medicines for various medical conditions. Three of the company’s top therapeutic areas are oncology, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism (CVRM), and respiratory and immunology.

AstraZeneca PLC’s (NASDAQ:AZN) competitive advantage lies around its innovation pipeline and rising demand for its current treatments. Tagrisso, Imfinzi, and Calquence are all key to increasing sales of the company and the oncology therapy division is a major growth engine. The company’s steady sales of Symbicort and the rapid growth in Farxiga volume have boosted the CVRM therapeutic division. Whereas, the company’s rare disease therapeutic division is expanding based on increasing sales of Ultomiris and Soliris.

In Q3, the company’s total revenue increased by 21% year-over-year to $13.57 billion and the core EPS soared 27% to $2.08. Over the past nine months, AstraZeneca’s revenue has increased 19%, which shows the company’s solid performance.

The company is heavily focused on growth in the U.S. and that is why it is investing almost $3.5 billion in manufacturing and R&D in New York. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) remains one of the most promising stocks in the healthcare sector.

Overall, AZN ranks 3rd on our list of the most profitable European stocks to invest in. While we acknowledge the potential of AZN as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AZN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.