Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Founded in 1999 and based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca ( AZN ) is one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, ranked 5 th by current market cap (at $310 billion) behind Eli Lilly ( LLY ), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), AbbVie ( ABBV ), and Roche ( RHHBY ). AstraZeneca has proven to be one of the most consistent performers in the biopharma lands...
Robert Way/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Founded in 1999 and based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca ( AZN ) is one of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, ranked 5 th by current market cap (at $310 billion) behind Eli Lilly ( LLY ), Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), AbbVie ( ABBV ), and Roche ( RHHBY ). AstraZeneca has proven to be one of the most consistent performers in the biopharma landscape, as seen from its 10-year chart. It has slightly beaten the S&P 500 over this timeframe. Until about 6 months ago it was level-pegging the general index, but since then it has outperformed it by a significant margin. It has done this on several occasions in the past decade (e.g., 2019, 2020, and 2022-3), only to fall back in line in time. Seeking Alpha I first covered the company in September—doing something of a deep-dive – giving it a buy rating at the time. This proved prescient, with the stock up 20% since then, significantly outpacing the S&P 500, which is down 1%. Seeking Alpha One of the key reasons for this company’s consistent performance is its wide range of products/treatments sold, which helps derisk and diversify its business. It also allows it to take operational risks by pursuing growth in new areas. Indeed, while they have pursued some different treatment areas in the past (including antiviral therapies), presently they have four main foci: respiratory inflammation and autoimmunity; cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; oncology; and, after their acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals in 2021 , rare diseases. In 2025, oncology was their largest and fastest-growing segment, representing 44% of product revenue (as seen below) and seeing 14% revenue growth across the full franchise. Also seen below, the US represents their largest market, with 43% of revenue, but with R&D centres in Cambridge (UK), Gaithersburg (US), Boston (US), Gothenburg (Sweden), Shanghai (China), and Beijing (China), they can establish a presence and sell/market their products on a t...
Third Order Effects Begin: U.S. Airlines Hike Bag Fees As Jet Fuel Prices Spike The New York Harbor jet fuel benchmark has doubled in just five weeks as the aviation fuel crisis spreads from airport to airport worldwide following ongoing disruptions at the Hormuz chokepoint. The third-order effects of that energy shock began to materialize this past week, with major U.S. airlines raising checked-b...
Third Order Effects Begin: U.S. Airlines Hike Bag Fees As Jet Fuel Prices Spike The New York Harbor jet fuel benchmark has doubled in just five weeks as the aviation fuel crisis spreads from airport to airport worldwide following ongoing disruptions at the Hormuz chokepoint. The third-order effects of that energy shock began to materialize this past week, with major U.S. airlines raising checked-bag fees to offset soaring fuel costs. United Airlines and JetBlue Airways, two major U.S. carriers, raised checked-baggage fees for domestic travel this week as they begin to figure out ways to address the impact of surging jet fuel prices without causing ticket sticker shock for customers. On Monday, JetBlue raised first-checked-bag prices by $4 to $9, depending on the timing and travel date. Later in the week, United raised its checked-bag fee by $10 for new bookings, pushing some domestic economy bag fees as high as $50. Both airlines said the increased fees are uncommon, with JetBlue citing higher operating costs and United noting it was the first increase in two years. "United is raising first and second checked bag fees by $10 for customers traveling in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Latin America beginning with tickets purchased Friday, April 3," the airline said. There have been no other indications (yet) from American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, or Frontier Airlines on whether they will follow, but we suspect similar measures are approaching if jet fuel prices remain elevated through the end of this month. Wall Street analysts have noted that raising baggage fees may be a better near-term option than aggressively hiking ticket prices, allowing airlines to shore up eroded margins hit hard by the fuel shock while limiting customer backlash. United CEO Scott Kirby has already warned that ticket prices may need to rise by as much as 20% to offset the surge in fuel costs. He has urged travelers to lock in fares before prices move higher. Last month, an...
Breaking News on Bloomberg This Weekend - there has been a successful rescue of a second US airman from Iran. Bloomberg's White House correspondent Jeff Mason and Bloomberg's Jerusalem reporter Dan Williams join hosts Christina Ruffini and Joe Mathieu and provide insight on the context and on going situation in Iran. (Source: Bloomberg)
Breaking News on Bloomberg This Weekend - there has been a successful rescue of a second US airman from Iran. Bloomberg's White House correspondent Jeff Mason and Bloomberg's Jerusalem reporter Dan Williams join hosts Christina Ruffini and Joe Mathieu and provide insight on the context and on going situation in Iran. (Source: Bloomberg)
Artemis II, Nasa’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, is a key step toward a long‑term return to the moon and future crewed missions to Mars Continue reading...
Artemis II, Nasa’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, is a key step toward a long‑term return to the moon and future crewed missions to Mars Continue reading...
In this article MC-FR ASC-GB ITX-ES SHOP-CA ADBE NVDA AMZN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Moment Makers Group | Istock | Getty Images It pinches here; drags there; the draping is wrong. These are some of the examples of the feedback a new crop of artificial intelligence apps might give a prospective customer trying on clothing ahead of a purchase, and in the process reduce the cha...
In this article MC-FR ASC-GB ITX-ES SHOP-CA ADBE NVDA AMZN Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Moment Makers Group | Istock | Getty Images It pinches here; drags there; the draping is wrong. These are some of the examples of the feedback a new crop of artificial intelligence apps might give a prospective customer trying on clothing ahead of a purchase, and in the process reduce the chances of a product being returned to a store. Fashion retailers are increasingly turning to AI to solve the issue of rising product returns, a persistent drag on profitability and something many in the industry refer to as the industry's "silent killer". A growing number of AI start-ups have emerged to provide virtual try-on technology, allowing potential customers to visualize fit and style before they buy. While tech companies have attempted to solve online fit issues since the 2010's, the rapid development of generative AI has finally made these applications good enough to meaningfully impact retailers' bottom lines. The U.S. National Retail Federation late last year estimated that 15.8% of annual retail sales were returned in 2025, totaling $849.9 billion. For online sales, that number jumped to 19.3%. Gen Z is driving this trend, with shoppers aged 18 to 30 averaging nearly eight online returns per person last year, the NRF found. Most returned items never make it back to the shelves and often cost the retailer more to process than the value of the refund itself. It's a multibillion-dollar problem for the industry that's eating directly into companies' margins. "Figuring out how to proactively use returns and then how to minimize them can be a meaningful driver of business and profitability," Guggenheim Senior Managing Director Simeon Siegel told CNBC. While fit technology will never be as good as trying something on in person, it's a great way to bridge the gap, Siegel said. "It's going to continue to get better, I think that's going to continue to reduce returns." Mir...
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk apologises to the supporters and says his side "gave up" during their 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Manchester City.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk apologises to the supporters and says his side "gave up" during their 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final defeat by Manchester City.
Energy demand from AI is surging. Altimetry highlights MasTec, Regal Rexnord and EQT as top energy plays, while warning investors to avoid CoreWeave and Oklo.
Energy demand from AI is surging. Altimetry highlights MasTec, Regal Rexnord and EQT as top energy plays, while warning investors to avoid CoreWeave and Oklo.
Hongkongers are more willing to discuss death including their own funeral wishes in the wake of the Covid pandemic, mass emigration and the deadly Tai Po fire, amid a rapidly ageing population, a death education advocate says. Pasu Ng Kwai-lun, founder of Minimal Funeral and a practitioner of “life-and-death education”, said attitudes had changed and people had grown much more open to discussing d...
Hongkongers are more willing to discuss death including their own funeral wishes in the wake of the Covid pandemic, mass emigration and the deadly Tai Po fire, amid a rapidly ageing population, a death education advocate says. Pasu Ng Kwai-lun, founder of Minimal Funeral and a practitioner of “life-and-death education”, said attitudes had changed and people had grown much more open to discussing death over the past five to 10 years. “People may not go as far as fully planning their funerals, but...
The HK$2 (US$0.26) transport fare scheme for the elderly is one of Hong Kong’s most socially significant success stories. But some of the recent changes, and further ones contemplated, seem to be rowing in a different direction. We need to pause and take stock before we inadvertently undo some of our good work. In the process, we should also take the chance to ensure the long-term affordability of...
The HK$2 (US$0.26) transport fare scheme for the elderly is one of Hong Kong’s most socially significant success stories. But some of the recent changes, and further ones contemplated, seem to be rowing in a different direction. We need to pause and take stock before we inadvertently undo some of our good work. In the process, we should also take the chance to ensure the long-term affordability of the scheme. The subsidy scheme was introduced in 2012 after an announcement in the 2011 policy...
This week, Matthew Burgess and Iris Ouyang discuss how Chinese bond yields have rebounded from historical low levels and how that may be signaling the market is reaching an inflection point.
This week, Matthew Burgess and Iris Ouyang discuss how Chinese bond yields have rebounded from historical low levels and how that may be signaling the market is reaching an inflection point.
Last summer, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) CEO Alex Karp outlined a clear growth road map: 10x revenue by the early 2030s, targeting somewhere between $40 billion and 45 billion in annual sales. Buying into this narrative requires more than just enthusiasm around the hype. Smart investors understand that investing in Palantir today represents a high-conviction bet that the company's Artific...
Last summer, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) CEO Alex Karp outlined a clear growth road map: 10x revenue by the early 2030s, targeting somewhere between $40 billion and 45 billion in annual sales. Buying into this narrative requires more than just enthusiasm around the hype. Smart investors understand that investing in Palantir today represents a high-conviction bet that the company's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) becomes a core operating system powering the world's most data-intensive enterprises. Palantir's combination of ironclad government contracts , exploding commercial demand, and improving operational efficiency positions the company to sustain premium valuation multiples that only the clearest AI winners deserve. Continue reading
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Pharmaceutical companies have only begun to tap the potential demand for obesity treatments, and expanding access should be a top priority, said Mike Doustdar, the head of Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Doustdar said the current reach of these drugs is still limited relative to the...
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images Pharmaceutical companies have only begun to tap the potential demand for obesity treatments, and expanding access should be a top priority, said Mike Doustdar, the head of Novo Nordisk ( NVO ), the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic. Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, Doustdar said the current reach of these drugs is still limited relative to the scale of need. He said companies in the sector must prioritize broadening availability, noting that tens of millions of people in the United States alone are living with obesity. Despite strong demand, he suggested that only a small fraction of eligible patients are currently being treated, leaving a large untapped population. He added that even when factoring in competition from Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and copycat products from compounding pharmacies, the industry is reaching only a modest share of potential users. Much of the conversation, he suggested, has focused on current patients rather than those still outside the system. Doustdar took over as CEO last year following a challenging stretch for Novo ( NVO ), during which it ceded market leadership to Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and faced setbacks in clinical trials. The company is now aiming to regain momentum, including through the rollout of an oral version of Wegovy. However, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) has also advanced in the same direction, recently securing U.S. approval for its own weight-loss pill, Foundayo. Improving affordability is central to Novo’s ( NVO ) strategy. Doustdar said expanding access helped drive the company’s agreement to lower prices for medications distributed through TrumpRx, an initiative backed by the U.S. administration. Other pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, have struck similar arrangements. Novo ( NVO ) is also preparing to reduce U.S. list prices significantly. Wholesale prices for Wegovy are expected to drop by about half, while Ozempic will see a reduction of roughly a third starting next ye...
A photo of a black speaker, the Amazon Echo, on a gray background. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Jeff Bezos badly wanted a voice computer. He had been saying so publicly since the very early days of Amazon, telling anyone who would listen about why voice might make it easier and more natural to interact with technology. (And to buy stuff from Jeff Bezos.) But when a team at Amazon se...
A photo of a black speaker, the Amazon Echo, on a gray background. | Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Jeff Bezos badly wanted a voice computer. He had been saying so publicly since the very early days of Amazon, telling anyone who would listen about why voice might make it easier and more natural to interact with technology. (And to buy stuff from Jeff Bezos.) But when a team at Amazon set out to actually make the voice computer a reality, they encountered a seemingly endless series of hard problems. Eventually, though, they created two products, the Echo speaker and the Alexa voice assistant, that would help bring a new kind of computer to millions of people. On this episode of Version History , we tell the story of the Echo's development i … Read the full story at The Verge.