AstraZeneca shares begin trading on NYSE after upgrade

Shares of AstraZeneca, the UK’s largest drugmaker, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday following a listing upgrade that replaces its American Depositary Receipts previously traded on Nasdaq.

The drug and vaccine maker is seeking to attract a broader investor base by leaning further toward the United States, where it generates almost half of its revenue, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.

AstraZeneca said the move will place equal weight on its listings in the UK, Sweden and the US.

The change highlights the growing importance of the US market to the company’s business and reflects a relative shift away from its home country as Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot looks to the world’s largest pharmaceutical market for future growth. The move will also make it easier for US investors to buy full AstraZeneca shares, raising the possibility that the company’s London listing could become less significant over time.

AstraZeneca has pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States by 2030 amid pressure from tariff plans proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. At the same time, the company has paused a £200 million ($274 million) expansion of its UK headquarters.

The listing upgrade will also allow investors to buy AstraZeneca shares without paying UK stamp duty, a tax on share trading. According to a note from Peel Hunt, this could cost the UK Treasury about £200 million a year. If successful, the move may encourage other London-listed companies to replace ADRs with ordinary shares, potentially further reducing stamp duty revenues.

Trading in American Depositary Receipts of UK firms has increased sharply in recent years. Volumes for the 20 FTSE 100 companies with listed ADRs rose more than 80% between 2019 and 2024, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

ADR trading in AstraZeneca climbed 34% in the five years through 2024, while London trading volumes for the stock rose by less than 8% over the same period. Other major UK companies have also seen strong ADR growth, with Barclays more than quadrupling, and Diageo, British American Tobacco and GSK more than doubling.

The UK market has long struggled to compete with the larger and more liquid US market, which is dominated by high-growth companies compared with Britain’s lower-valued, traditional sectors. While UK stocks are at record highs, they have lagged the US, with the gap widening since the Covid-19 pandemic. The FTSE 100 has risen about 40% since the start of 2020 in U.S. dollar terms, compared with a 115% gain for the S&P 500.

AstraZeneca will trade on the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stockholm and the NYSE under the ticker symbol “AZN.”

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev