Pfizer Lifts 2026 Revenue Outlook to $62B-$64B as Covid Sales Shrink
Covid sales keep shrinking, yet Pfizer beat third-quarter estimates and raised its outlook for the full year. The drugmaker credits its other products.
The quarter against expectations
Adjusted earnings came in at 87 cents per share, against 73 cents expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG. Revenue was $16.58 billion, against $15.87 billion expected, and relatively flat on a year earlier. Net income was $3.24 billion, or 56 cents per share. A year earlier it was $3.54 billion, or 62 cents.
The full-year profit outlook includes a one-time $650 million charge, worth 10 cents per share. Pfizer booked it in the third quarter, tied to a licensing and collaboration deal with Chinese cancer drugmaker Innovent Biologics.
A higher forecast
Pfizer now expects full-year revenue of $62 billion to $64 billion. The earlier range was $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion. The low end would still be roughly flat or slightly down from 2025 revenue of $62.6 billion. Expected adjusted profit is $2.95 to $3.05 per share, up from $2.80 to $3.
The company credited "strong year-to-date performance" and ongoing cost cuts. In August it widened its multiyear cost-cutting effort, and it now targets roughly $9.7 billion in net savings through 2029.
What carried the quarter
Eliquis, the blood thinner, brought in $2.52 billion, up 25% and above the $2.40 billion analysts expected, per StreetAccount. Padcev, a targeted cancer drug, made $720 million against $658 million expected.
Newly launched and acquired products contributed $3.8 billion, growing 32% operationally. The group includes Padcev, the RSV vaccine Abrysvo, the pneumococcal shot Prevnar 20 and the lung cancer pill Lorbrena.
Covid is now a smaller worry
The Covid vaccine sold $808 million, and the antiviral pill Paxlovid $449 million. Both beat estimates despite steep declines. Pfizer kept its Covid outlook at about $4 billion for the year, with most vaccine sales expected in the fourth quarter.
CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC that Covid had been "an overhang on the performance of our stock" because it was perceived as volatile and material to Pfizer. His argument is that the company beat estimates and raised guidance by $1.5 billion even with Covid at its lowest.
A new finance chief
Cecile Guegan has taken over as chief financial officer this month. She has held finance leadership roles at Pfizer for two decades and was interim CFO from August, after Dave Denton left to take the same job at Nike.
Our Take
Pfizer is betting that launches and acquisitions can offset the loss of patent exclusivity on its biggest products. Guegan said the quarter shows progress toward returning to growth toward the end of the decade. Still unclear is how long the new products can keep up their 32% pace while Covid sales fall.
Source: CNBC