AstraZeneca announced a rather rosy set of third-quarter results yesterday. The company also said it will stop buying up its own shares in order to have more free cash for snapping up smaller firms.

At the moment Simon Lowth, its chief financial officer, says, “we don’t have any specific targets in mind” (Financial Times).

As the credit crunch hits smaller companies this could be an ideal time to buy them and AstraZeneca is not the only one hoping to profit from the world’s financial woes.

Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that, “small drug companies squeezed by the credit crunch are turning to GlaxoSmithKline PLC to discuss being acquired, Glaxo Chief Executive Andrew Witty said, adding that Glaxo may step up its acquisition activity in the coming months”.

Bloomberg says AstraZeneca’s results put it as “the best performing stock among European drugmakers this year”. It adds:

AstraZeneca joins GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Novo Nordisk A/S in seeking bargains as the financial crisis forces cash-strapped companies to seek buyouts. Glaxo last week said it plans to scrap its stock repurchasing program in 2009 to free up funds for more purchases. Novo CFO Jesper Brandgaard said today that the Danish drugmaker is earmarking as much as $2 billion for takeovers. AstraZeneca will not seek a ‘large scale’ purchase and will reconsider share buybacks in January, Lowth said.