Pfizer (PFE) Q2 earnings report 2023

Pfizer on Tuesday reported second-quarter adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street’s expectations, but posted revenue that fell in need of estimates resulting from a plunge in Covid product sales.

The corporate also said it is ready to chop costs if Covid-related revenue continues to disappoint this 12 months.

Here’s how Pfizer results compared with Wall Street expectations, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

• Earnings per share: 67 cents per share adjusted, vs. 57 cents per share expected
• Revenue: $12.73 billion, vs. $13.27 billion expected

Pfizer reported second-quarter sales of $12.73 billion, down 54% from the identical period a 12 months ago.

“The contraction in revenues was driven by the anticipated decline in Paxlovid and Comirnaty sales,” Pfizer CFO David Denton said during an earnings call on Tuesday. 

The corporate’s Covid vaccine raked in $1.49 billion in sales, down 83% from the year-ago quarter. Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid posted $143 million in revenue, a drop of 98%.

Together, the products pulled in $1.6 billion in revenue for the quarter. That compares with roughly $17 billion in sales throughout the same period a 12 months ago.

The corporate reaffirmed its forecast of $13.5 billion in Covid vaccine sales and $8 billion in revenue for Paxlovid for 2023.

But Denton noted that Pfizer is ready to launch a cost-cutting program if Covid product revenues for the total 12 months are “lower than what we assumed.” He added that Pfizer would design the technique to support its goal of growing its operating profit margin, and expects the trouble to “begin to yield leads to 2024.”

“We stay up for sharing specific details of this program in our upcoming earnings calls,” Denton said throughout the call.

Pfizer and rival drugmakers like Moderna have seen a steep drop in Covid-related sales this 12 months because the world emerges from the pandemic and relies less on blockbuster vaccines and coverings that help protect against the virus.

Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are preparing for the U.S. to shift Covid products to the business market, which implies those corporations will start selling vaccines and coverings on to health-care providers this fall.

For the second quarter, Pfizer booked net income of $2.33 billion, or 41 cents per share. That fell from $9.91 billion, or $1.73 per share, throughout the same period a 12 months ago. 

Excluding certain items, the corporate’s earnings per share were 67 cents per share for the quarter. 

Looking ahead, the Latest York-based company narrowed its 2023 sales forecast to $67 billion to $70 billion, from a previous forecast of $67 billion to $71 billion. 

Pfizer reiterated its full-year adjusted earnings outlook of $3.25 to $3.45 per share.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during an earnings call Tuesday that there may be clearly a “higher level of uncertainty” about demand projections for Covid products than for the remaining of the corporate’s business.

He noted that the second half of the 12 months will “play an even bigger role in informing our expectations for the long-term demand” of the corporate’s Covid vaccine and Paxlovid. Utilization “follows very closely” with Covid infection rates, he said.

“We expect a recent COVID-19 wave to start out within the U.S. this fall, and this expectation is supported by the rise in infection rates we’re already seeing,” Bourla said, referring to a slight uptick in Covid cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the previous few weeks. 

Pfizer’s stock closed greater than 1% lower on Tuesday. The corporate’s shares have dropped roughly 30% this 12 months, putting Pfizer’s market value at roughly $201 billion.

Excluding Covid products, drugs from recently acquired corporations largely fueled revenue. 

Those sales include Biohaven Pharmaceuticals migraine drug Nurtec ODT and Global Blood Therapeutics’ sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta, which drew in $247 million and $77 million, respectively.

The corporate said revenue was also driven by strong sales of Vyndaqel drugs, that are used to treat a certain form of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the center muscle. Those drugs booked $782 million in sales, up 42% from the second quarter of 2022.

Other drugs weighed on revenue, nonetheless. 

Inflectra, a monoclonal antibody used to treat a variety of inflammatory autoimmune diseases, posted $74 million in sales. That total fell 46% from the identical period a 12 months ago. 

Pfizer’s Ibrance, which treats a certain form of breast cancer, posted $1.24 billion in sales, down 6% from a 12 months ago. 

The FDA approved the shot in late May, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisable the jab to adults 60 and above. However the CDC says seniors should work with their health care providers to determine if taking a shot is true for them. 

The FTC asked Pfizer and Seagen for more information on their proposed merger throughout the second quarter. The move got here because the agency cracks down on similar deals within the pharmaceutical industry.