11:40 AM EDT, 03/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We keep our target price of $81, 20x our 2024 earnings per ADS estimate, in line with its historical average. AZN announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals, a company that develops next generation radioconjugates, for up to $2.4 billion as part of its efforts to develop more targeted cancer treatments. Radioconjugates, which destroy cancer cells in a more targeted manner than traditional radiotherapy (thus minimizing damage to healthy cells), have emerged as a new type of cancer treatment in recent years. This is AZN's second deal announcement this month following the $1.05 billion deal to buy Amolyt Pharma last week. While these deals are relatively small (vs. the $39 billion acquisition of Alexion in 2021), we think they will help to further strengthen AZN's pipeline in the high margin oncology (Fusion) and rare disease (Amolyt) space and provide support to long-term growth. Our EPS forecasts remain unchanged. The Fusion deal is expected to close in Q2 2024.