Sifting through countless of stocks in the Pharmaceuticals industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC or AstraZeneca PLC because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC

Novo Nordisk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. It operates through two segments, Obesity and Diabetes Care, and Rare Disease. The Obesity and Diabetes care segment provides products for diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, and other emerging therapy areas. The Rare Disease segment offers products in the areas of rare blood disorders, rare endocrine disorders, and hormone replacement therapy. The company also provides NovoPen 6 and NovoPen Echo Plus, smart insulin pens; Dose Check, an insulin dose guidance application; growth hormone pens and injection needles; and Wegovy pill an oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist therapy for weight management. It operates in Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan, Korea, Oceania, Southeast Asia, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. Novo Nordisk A/S was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark.

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company offers Imjudo, Datroway, Iressa, Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Crestor, Andexxa, Onglyza, Symlin, XIGDUO XR, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Farxiga/Forxiga, Plendil, Modip, Splendil, Munobal, Flodil, Tenormin, Tenormine, Prenormine, Atenol, Zestril, Brilinta/Brilique, Komboglyze, Qtern, Wainua, Byetta, Lokelma, Seloken ZOK, Toprol-XL, Betaloc ZOK, XIGDUO, Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bricanyl Respules, Eklira Genuair/Tudorza/Bretaris, Pulmicort Turbuhaler, Symbicort Turbuhaler, Airsupra, Bricanyl Turbuhaler, Fasenra, Rhinocort, Tezspire, Bevespi Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Oxis Turbuhaler, Saphnelo, Breztri Aerosphere, Duaklir Genuair, Pulmicort Respules, and Symbicort pMDI. It also provides Beyfortus, Kavigale, Evusheld, Fluenz/FluMist, Synagis, Kanuma, Ultomiris, Koselugo, Voydeya, Soliris, Strensiq, Nexium, and other medicines. The company offers its products for ocology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory & immunology, vaccines and immune, and therapies rare diseases. It serves primary and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, the Americas, rest of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a strategic agreement with Tempus and Pathos to develop the largest multimodal foundation model in oncology; CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited to advance the discovery and development of novel oral candidates, with the potential to treat diseases across multiple indications; and Nucs AI Inc. to develop AI-driven Response Prediction for Therapeutic Radioconjugates. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacture, and commercialization of prescription medicines. The company offers Imjudo, Datroway, Iressa, Tagrisso, Imfinzi, Lynparza, Calquence, Enhertu, Orpathys, Truqap, Zoladex, Faslodex, Crestor, Andexxa, Onglyza, Symlin, XIGDUO XR, Atacand, Atacand HCT, Atacand Plus, Farxiga/Forxiga, Plendil, Modip, Splendil, Munobal, Flodil, Tenormin, Tenormine, Prenormine, Atenol, Zestril, Brilinta/Brilique, Komboglyze, Qtern, Wainua, Byetta, Lokelma, Seloken ZOK, Toprol-XL, Betaloc ZOK, XIGDUO, Accolate, Accoleit, Vanticon, Bricanyl Respules, Eklira Genuair/Tudorza/Bretaris, Pulmicort Turbuhaler, Symbicort Turbuhaler, Airsupra, Bricanyl Turbuhaler, Fasenra, Rhinocort, Tezspire, Bevespi Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Oxis Turbuhaler, Saphnelo, Breztri Aerosphere, Duaklir Genuair, Pulmicort Respules, and Symbicort pMDI. It also provides Beyfortus, Kavigale, Evusheld, Fluenz/FluMist, Synagis, Kanuma, Ultomiris, Koselugo, Voydeya, Soliris, Strensiq, Nexium, and other medicines. The company offers its products for ocology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolism, respiratory & immunology, vaccines and immune, and therapies rare diseases. It serves primary and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, the Americas, rest of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a strategic agreement with Tempus and Pathos to develop the largest multimodal foundation model in oncology; CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited to advance the discovery and development of novel oral candidates, with the potential to treat diseases across multiple indications; and Nucs AI Inc. to develop AI-driven Response Prediction for Therapeutic Radioconjugates. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.

Latest Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, Novo Nordisk A/S had a $207.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Pharmaceuticals median of $674.0 million. Novo Nordisk A/S’s stock is down 7.4% in 2026, up 1.8% in the previous five trading days and down 17.05% in the past year.

Currently, Novo Nordisk A/S’s price-earnings ratio is 11.7. Novo Nordisk A/S’s trailing 12-month revenue is $50.3 billion with a 35.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -0.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.581 per share for the current fiscal year. Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a 2.5% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, AstraZeneca PLC had a $250.9 billion market cap, putting it in the 99th percentile of all stocks. AstraZeneca PLC’s stock is up 78.9% in 2026, down 0.1% in the previous five trading days and up 3.78% in the past year.

Currently, AstraZeneca PLC’s price-earnings ratio is 24.2. AstraZeneca PLC’s trailing 12-month revenue is $61.4 billion with a 17.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 6.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.053 per share for the current fiscal year. AstraZeneca PLC currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Novo Nordisk A/S	NVO	A
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	A
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Novo Nordisk A/S has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong. AstraZeneca PLC has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong. AstraZeneca PLC has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Novo Nordisk A/S	NVO	A
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	A
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Novo Nordisk A/S has a Quality Score of 90, which is Very Strong. AstraZeneca PLC has a Quality Score of 92, which is Very Strong. AstraZeneca PLC has a Quality Score of 92, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Novo Nordisk A/S	NVO	D
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	D
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Novo Nordisk A/S has a Momentum Score of 33, which is Weak. AstraZeneca PLC has a Momentum Score of 36, which is Weak. AstraZeneca PLC has a Momentum Score of 36, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC or AstraZeneca PLC has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC or AstraZeneca PLC is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC or AstraZeneca PLC Stock?

Overall, Novo Nordisk A/S stock has a Growth Score of 89, Momentum Score of 33 and Quality Score of 90.

AstraZeneca PLC stock has a Growth Score of 89, Momentum Score of 36 and Quality Score of 92.

AstraZeneca PLC stock has a Growth Score of 89, Momentum Score of 36 and Quality Score of 92.

Comparing Novo Nordisk A/S, AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.