Pfizer Inc.’s second-quarter sales of its Covid pill and other key products underperformed, causing the company to shave $1 billion from its full-year sales forecast.
(Bloomberg) — Pfizer Inc.’s second-quarter sales of its Covid pill and other key products underperformed, causing the company to shave $1 billion from its full-year sales forecast.
Despite sharp declines in sales of both its Covid shot and antiviral, the drugmaker maintained its full-year guidance for a combined $21.5 billion in sales from the two products, prompting analysts to question whether the company can reach that goal.
Pfizer’s Covid products brought in tens of billions during the height of the pandemic when people were clamoring for vaccines and pills to combat the virus. Now the drugmaker is expecting to shift to a model where health insurers pay for the products after years of governments purchases.
“We are acutely aware that all these uncertainties are making it difficult to project the future revenues of Pfizer in this area and at large at Pfizer,” Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on a call with analysts. “And also affecting our stock price as a result.”
The company’s stock has fallen by nearly a third over the past year, far more than any of its industry rivals, and was down 0.3% at 1:03 p.m. in New York.
Second-quarter revenue of $12.7 billion was 54% lower than a year ago, which Pfizer attributed to fading Covid demand. Other top sellers like blood-thinner Eliquis and pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar also missed analysts’ estimates for the quarter.
Comirnaty’s quarterly sales of $1.49 billion were down 83% from a year ago, in line with analysts’ expectations. Paxlovid’s quarterly sales of $143 million were down 98% from a year prior and far below Wall Street’s expectations for $843 million.
Still, earnings of 67 cents a share in the period beat analysts expectations of 58 cents.
Cost Cutting
Pfizer is prepared to launch a broad cost-cutting program if Covid-19 sales are less than expected, which the drugmaker will have more clarity about after the third quarter, Bourla said. The company is waiting for the critical fall respiratory illness season to decide whether it will lower its sales guidance for this year, and possibly beyond, he added.
The stock probably won’t fall much from here, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Chris Schott said in a note. However, Schott doesn’t “see a clear path for shares to recover given continued uncertainty surrounding the company’s Covid franchise and the recent setback for the company’s once-daily oral GLP-1,” a weight-loss product that may struggle to keep up with rivals.
Adjusted earnings for the year will be in a range of $3.25 to $3.45 a share, in line with prior guidance. Revenue will be as much $70 billion, lower than a previous estimate that topped out at $71 billion.
“While investors expected worse guidance, we think the questions will still be around drivers of Covid full-year target achievement,” Mohit Bansal, a Wells Fargo & Co. analyst, wrote.
Company executives also gave an update on Pfizer’s Rocky Mount plant in North Carolina, which was hit by a tornado last month. Bourla said he’s “very confident” it will return to production, but it’s not clear when. The warehouse was severely damaged and lots of inventory was lost, but production facilities weren’t impacted, he said.
Further, Pfizer executives gave an update on its mRNA late-stage flu vaccine trial, which expanded recently to include more Type B flu patients. More studies are being added and the company is aiming to conclude the trial later this year, they said.
(Updates with executives comments and shares starting in fourth paragraph.)
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