Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 11, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleAstraZeneca shares hit a record high, cementing its lead as the UK's largest stock. The surge follows strong earnings and a US drug-pricing deal.
(Reuters) -Shares in AstraZeneca rose past their September 2024 peak on Tuesday, hitting a fresh record high and cementing the company's position as the largest UK-listed stock by market value.
Tuesday's surge added to the rally after forecast-beating quarterly earnings last week and a U.S. drug-pricing deal in October that helped remove some policy uncertainty. The United States accounts for more than 40% of AstraZeneca's total sales.
By 0832 GMT, AstraZeneca was up 2.5% after surging to as high as 134.6 pounds, giving it a market value of close to 210 billion pounds ($282 billion). The blue-chip FTSE index, meanwhile, rose 1.1% to new record highs of its own, after UK labour market data boosted expectations for a Bank of England rate cut next month.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
Market capitalisation is the total market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock. It is calculated by multiplying the current share price by the total number of outstanding shares.
Quarterly earnings refer to a company's financial performance over a three-month period. These results are reported to shareholders and can impact stock prices and investor perception.
A blue-chip stock is a share in a well-established company with a history of stable earnings and reliable growth. These companies typically have a strong reputation and are considered safe investments.
The FTSE index, or Financial Times Stock Exchange index, is a stock market index that tracks the performance of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
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