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 Viatris Inc., 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 Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC

Viatris Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare company in North America, Europe, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, rest of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. It operates in four segments: Developed Markets, Greater China, JANZ, and Emerging Markets. The company offers prescription brand drugs, generic drugs, complex generic drugs, and biosimilars. It also provides drugs in various therapeutic areas covering various noncommunicable and infectious diseases, including cardiovascular, CNS and anesthesia, dermatology, diabetes and metabolism, eye care, gastroenterology, immunology, oncology, and respiratory and allergy, as well as support services, such as diagnostic clinics, educational seminars, and digital tools to help patients better manage their health. In addition, the company offers medicines in the form of oral solid doses, injectables, and complex dosage forms to retail and pharmacy establishments, wholesalers and distributors, payers, insurers and governments, and institutions. It distributes its products through pharmaceutical wholesalers/distributors, pharmaceutical retailers, institutional pharmacies, mail-order and e-commerce pharmacies, and specialty pharmacies under the Lyrica, Lipitor, Celebrex, Viagra, Creon, Influvac, Wixela Inhub, EpiPen Auto-Injector, Fraxiparine, Yupelri, Norvasc, Amitiza, Effexor, Lipacreon, Zoloft, Xalabrands, Dymista, Xanax, and Breyna brands. The company has collaboration agreements with Mapi Pharma Ltd. to develop and commercialize long-acting glatiramer acetate depot products and additional products; Revance Therapeutics, Inc. to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a biosimilar to the branded biologic product, BOTOX; and Theravance Biopharma, Inc. to develop and commercialize revefenacin. Viatris Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

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 Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC Stock News

As of August 13, 2026, Viatris Inc. had a $18.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Pharmaceuticals median of $634.5 million. Viatris Inc.’s stock is up 29.5% in 2026, down 1.9% in the previous five trading days and up 58.5% in the past year.

Currently, Viatris Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Viatris Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $14.7 billion with a -2.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.491 per share for the current fiscal year. Viatris Inc. currently has a 3.0% dividend yield.

As of August 13, 2026, AstraZeneca PLC had a $245.2 billion market cap, putting it in the 99th percentile of all stocks. AstraZeneca PLC’s stock is up 69.2% in 2026, down 3.6% in the previous five trading days and up 7.02% in the past year.

Currently, AstraZeneca PLC’s price-earnings ratio is 23.5. 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 $10.085 per share for the current fiscal year. AstraZeneca PLC currently has a 1.5% dividend yield.

How We Compare Viatris Inc., 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 Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Viatris Inc.	VTRS	A
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	D
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	D

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.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Viatris Inc. has a Value Score of 83, which is Deep Value. AstraZeneca PLC has a Value Score of 27, which is Expensive. AstraZeneca PLC has a Value Score of 27, which is Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: Viatris Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Viatris Inc. is considered to have better value than AstraZeneca PLC. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Viatris Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Viatris Inc.	VTRS	D
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.

Viatris Inc. has a Growth Score of 33, which is Weak. 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: AstraZeneca PLC

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, AstraZeneca PLC has a more attractive growth grade than Viatris Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, AstraZeneca PLC could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company	Ticker	Earnings Estimate
Viatris Inc.	VTRS	B
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	C
AstraZeneca PLC	AZN	C

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

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Viatris Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 69, which is Positive. AstraZeneca PLC has a Earnings Estimate Score of 47, which is Neutral. AstraZeneca PLC has a Earnings Estimate Score of 47, which is Neutral.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Viatris Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Viatris Inc. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than AstraZeneca PLC. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Viatris Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC and AstraZeneca PLC Grades

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

Momentum grades help 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.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite 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 F-Score.

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 Viatris Inc., 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, Viatris Inc., AstraZeneca PLC or AstraZeneca PLC Stock?

Overall, Viatris Inc. stock has a Value Score of 83, Growth Score of 33 and Estimate Revisions Score of 69.

AstraZeneca PLC stock has a Value Score of 27, Growth Score of 89 and Estimate Revisions Score of 47.

AstraZeneca PLC stock has a Value Score of 27, Growth Score of 89 and Estimate Revisions Score of 47.

Comparing Viatris Inc., 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.