What Makes AstraZeneca (AZN) a Strong Growing Company?

Oakmark Funds, advised by Harris Associates, released its “Oakmark International Fund” fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. It is a diversified fund that focuses on long-term capital appreciation by investing in common stocks of non-U.S. companies, generally in the mid and large-cap spectrum. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the fund (Investor Class) delivered a return of 4.83%, outperforming the benchmark, the MSCI World ex USA Index’s 5.20% gain. Healthcare and financials were the top performance contributors at the sector level, while the consumer staples was the only detractor. In addition, you can check the Fund’s top five holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Oakmark International Fund highlighted stocks such as AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN). AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and manufactures prescription medicines.  On January 14, 2026, AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) stock closed at $96.34 per share. One-month return of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) was 6.32%, and its shares gained 43.98% of their value over the last 52 weeks. AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) has a market capitalization of $298.709 billion.

Oakmark International Fund stated the following regarding AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:

“AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It researches, develops and commercializes prescription medicines designed to treat lung and breast cancers, cardiorenal diseases, respiratory problems and other rare diseases. We believe AstraZeneca’s robust on-market portfolio and sector-leading late-stage pipeline provide an attractive growth profile. Moreover, we believe the company can build on its long track record of a productive research and development program, thanks to its innovative culture and exceptional management team. CEO Pascal Soriot is one of the industry’s best executives, and he has cultivated a deep bench of talent, a robust decision-making framework and a differentiated R&D culture that should drive strong growth for years to come, in our view. Recent concerns over United States regulations have overshadowed AstraZeneca’s merits and weighed on the broader pharmaceutical industry. This opened a window for us to purchase shares of this company at a price well below our estimate of its intrinsic value.”

AstraZeneca’s (AZN) Dividend: Resilient, Predictable, and Built on Innovation

AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 54 hedge fund portfolios held AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) at the end of the third quarter, up from 48 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: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 AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ:AZN) and shared the list of best performing pharma stocks in 2025. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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