Pharmaceutical company Pharmizer said an oral drug to treat COVID-19 could be available by the end of 2021.
Soumyabrata Roy | Norphoto | Getty Images
Pfizer on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, though sales fell, driven by lower demand for the company’s Covid vaccine.
Pfizer stock rose in premarket trading on Tuesday. Shares are down more than 23% in the year to Monday’s close, which puts the company’s market capitalization at about $221.3 billion.
Here’s what Pfizer reported compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of analysts conducted by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: Adjusted $1.23, vs. 98 cents expected
- he won: 18.28 billion dollars, compared to the expected 16.59 billion dollars
The company reported net income of $5.54 billion, or 97 cents per share. That compares to $7.86 billion, or $1.37 per share, for the same period last year.
The pharmaceutical giant reported first-quarter sales of $18.28 billion, down 29% from the same period last year.
The company’s Covid vaccine sales fell by $10 billion, or 75%, compared to the same quarter a year ago. Pfizer said this was mainly driven by a decline in contracted deliveries and demand in international markets.
The drop was also due to a drop in US government-contracted deliveries as the country prepares to move Covid products to the commercial market later this year, according to Pfizer.
Sales of Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid Covid pills increased by $2.8 billion during the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Pfizer said Paxlovid’s revenue is driven by new launches in some international markets and strong demand in China due to an increase in Covid cases.
Paxlovid first entered the US market under an emergency use authorization in late December 2021. Pfizer hopes to win full FDA approval for this drug this year.
Excluding sales of Covid products, Pfizer said first-quarter revenue grew 5% compared to the same period last year. This growth was driven by strong sales of drugs such as Sulperazone, an antibiotic to treat urinary tract infections, and the blood-thinning drug Eliquis.
The New York-based company maintained its 2023 sales forecast from $67 billion to $71 billion. Pfizer also reiterated its full-year adjusted earnings forecast of $3.25 to $3.45 per share.
But Pfizer continues to expect lower Covid-related sales this year. The company reaffirmed its forecast for Covid vaccine sales of $13.5 billion in 2023 and revenue of $8 billion for Paxlovid.
Excluding Covid products, Pfizer said it expects revenue growth of between 7% and 9% this year.
Pfizer and other drugmakers such as Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are preparing for a sharp decline in Covid-related sales this year as the world emerges from the pandemic and relies less on blockbuster vaccines and treatments for the virus.
But Pfizer is pinning its hopes on mergers and acquisitions and a record pipeline to help the company weather its post-pandemic boom.
The company said in January that it expected to launch 19 vaccines and treatments over the next 18 months. These drugs have the potential to generate $20 billion in sales by 2030, according to Pfizer.
Pfizer will hold an earnings call at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Read the earnings statement.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.