AstraZeneca PLC shares in demand after HSBC upgrade

PLC () shares were in demand late morning after analysts at upgraded the stock to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’.

Nudging up the valuation by 140p to 7,260p each, the bank said the main oncology pillars of the group – Lynparza, Tagrisso and Imfinzi – showed robust growth in the third quarter.

It also cited “vaccine news flow tailwinds” as a potential further driver of financial success for the Anglo-Swedish giant.

and BioNTech have come forward with what looks like the world’s first effective Covid vaccine.

However, they are expected to be the first of a whole line of life sciences companies to come forward with potential inoculations  – working on a jab is AZ, which is developing the drug in collaboration with the University of Oxford.

Experts believe a number of approaches will be required to defeat coronavirus, while governments have pre-ordered supplies from multiple different sources, including AstraZeneca.

So, being the second-, or third-mover in the space – so long as the vaccine proves effective – could easily still result in the company being one of the pandemic success stories.

The stock, up 40% from its late-March low, was changing hands for 8,731p, up 2.3% on the day