Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, speaks during a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at the Pfizer factory in Puurs, Belgium, April 23, 2021.
Juan Thys | Reuters
Pfizer On Thursday it reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and raised its full-year profit guidance as cost cuts helped offset falling sales during the period.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects its full-year adjusted profit to be between $3 and $3.15 per share, up from previous guidance of $2.90 to $3.10 per share. Pfizer said that reflects its “solid” performance for the year, “continued confidence in our business” and progress in reducing costs, among other factors.
Pfizer said it also included a one-time charge of $1.35 billion tied to its licensing deal with Chinese biotech 3SBio, which hit earnings by about 20 cents per share. The company said its 2025 guidance also takes into account President Donald Trump's current tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico. It does not reflect the specific pharmaceutical tariffs threatened by Trump, since the company is exempt from those taxes for three years under a new drug pricing agreement with the president.
That deal has no impact on Pfizer's 2025 guidance, but the company said it expects a dilutive effect on its 2026 outlook, its chief financial officer, Dave Denton, said Tuesday on a third-quarter earnings conference call. Denton said the company will likely provide its 2026 guidance by the end of the year.
Pfizer maintained its full-year revenue guidance of between $61 billion and $64 billion.
Pfizer shares rose more than 1% on Tuesday.
Here's what the company reported for the third quarter compared to what Wall Street expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 87 cents adjusted vs. 63 cents expected
- Revenue: $16.65 billion vs. $16.58 billion expected
Pfizer reported revenue of $16.65 billion for the third quarter, down 6% from the same period a year earlier, largely due to lower demand for its Covid vaccine and Paxlovid, an antiviral pill for the virus.
The company posted net income of $3.54 billion, or 62 cents per share. That compares with net income of $4.47 billion, or 78 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.
Excluding certain items, including restructuring charges and costs associated with intangible assets, the company posted earnings per share of 87 cents for the quarter.
Pfizer's “performance continues to exceed expectations and deliver strong results, even as Covid incidence remains low,” Denton said during the earnings conference call.
Also on Tuesday, Pfizer said it is on track to reduce costs by about $7.7 billion by the end of 2027 as part of two separate initiatives. As part of that, the company said it will reduce costs by $4.5 billion by the end of 2025.
The results come weeks after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to reach a deal with Trump to voluntarily sell its drugs for less money, as his administration pushes to tie U.S. drug prices to cheaper ones abroad.
Under the deal, Pfizer agreed to a three-year grace period during which the company's products will not face specific pharmaceutical tariffs threatened by Trump, as long as the drugmaker invests more in American manufacturing. The company plans to invest $70 billion to relocate domestic drug research and manufacturing facilities.
On the call, Denton said the deal “will help ensure American patients pay lower prices for prescription drugs while providing the clarity we need to focus on our business and our investment in future innovation.”
Pfizer is slowly regaining its footing after a rapid decline in its Covid business over the past three years, and the company is banking on new ways to boost revenue, including through anti-cancer products from its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen and a proposed deal with anti-obesity biotech Metsera.
But the pharmaceutical company is in a heated bidding war with Nordisk for Metsera. Both pharmaceutical companies raised their bids for Metsera, but the biotech company said Tuesday that Novo Nordisk's new proposal is “superior.” This came a day after Pfizer filed its second lawsuit against the two companies, alleging that Novo Nordisk's attempt to outbid Pfizer to acquire Metsera is anti-competitive.
“We believe Novo Nordisk's offer is illusory and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law and there is a high risk that it will never be consummated,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during the earnings call Tuesday.
“What I can say is that our belief in the promise of the Pfizer and Metsera combination is strong and unwavering,” he said.
Pfizer shares are down 7% so far this year.
Weaker Covid product sales
Pfizer said its Covid products weighed on third-quarter sales, as lower infection rates reduced demand for Paxlovid and a stricter vaccine recommendation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reduced the population eligible for the vaccine, called Comirnaty.
In September, CDC advisors recommended that everyone consult a health care provider when deciding whether to get a vaccine, a gentler guideline for getting the vaccine than in previous years. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, has sought to rewrite the country's immunization policies through a series of far-reaching actions.
The company's Covid vaccine posted $1.15 billion in revenue for the third quarter, down 19% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts expected the injection to generate $1.13 billion in sales for the quarter, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Pfizer's Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid posted sales of $1.23 billion in the third quarter, down 55% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts expected the injection to rake in $1.37 billion in sales during the period, according to StreetAccount estimates.
The company said third-quarter sales were helped by higher revenue from several products, including its blood thinner Eliquis, which it shares with Bristol Myers Squibb. That drug generated $2.02 billion in sales, an increase of 25%, beating analyst estimates for the period, according to StreetAccount.
Eliquis is among the first round of drugs that will face new negotiated prices in Medicare in 2026, due to a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Pfizer said its drugs Vyndaqel, which is used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, and its migraine treatment Nurtec also saw higher sales. Vyndaqel drugs posted sales of $1.59 billion, while Nurtec posted $412 million in revenue, beating both analyst estimates for the period.
