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Pfizer on Tuesday reported a narrower-than-expected adjusted loss for the third quarter because the drugmaker recorded charges largely related to struggles for its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid and the Covid vaccine.
Pfizer said it recorded a $5.6 billion charge for inventory write-offs within the third quarter as a consequence of lower-than-expected use of Covid products. Of those write-offs, $4.7 billion is chalked as much as Paxlovid and $900 million is attributed to the corporate’s vaccine.
The pharmaceutical giant also reiterated the full-year adjusted earnings and revenue guidance it announced two weeks ago, which is drastically lower than its initial projections as a consequence of weakening demand for its Covid products. That decline in demand also led Pfizer to announce a sweeping $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan at the identical time.
Those efforts were seen as needed to shore up investor sentiment as Pfizer and its rivals resembling Moderna struggle to navigate the rapid decline of their Covid businesses, that are transitioning to the business market within the U.S. this yr.
Here’s what Pfizer reported for the third quarter in comparison with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly often called Refinitiv:
- Loss per share: 17 cents, adjusted vs. 34 cents expected
- Revenue: $13.23 billion vs. $13.34 billion expected
Pfizer reported third-quarter revenue of $13.23 billion, down 42% from the identical period a yr ago, as a consequence of the decline in sales of its Covid products.
The corporate’s Covid vaccine raked in $1.31 billion in sales, down 70% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts had expected the shot to herald $1.53 billion in sales, in line with FactSet estimates.
Paxlovid posted $202 million in revenue, a drop of 97%. Analysts had expected $613.5 million in sales of the drug, in line with FactSet estimates.
Together, the products pulled in around $1.5 billion in revenue for the quarter. That compares with roughly $12 billion in sales throughout the same period a yr ago.
For the third quarter, Pfizer booked a net lack of $2.38 billion, or 42 cents per share. That compares to a net income of $8.61 billion, or $1.51 per share, throughout the same period a yr ago.
Excluding certain items, the corporate’s loss per share was 17 cents for the quarter.
Pfizer reiterated the guidance it outlined in October: The corporate expects 2023 sales of $58 billion to $61 billion and full-year adjusted earnings of $1.45 to $1.65 per share.
The corporate anticipates that its Covid vaccine will rake in $11.5 billion in sales this yr.
Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical giant expects its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid to herald $1 billion in revenue. Pfizer has agreed to take eight million Paxlovid courses back early from the U.S. government, which is a component of an effort to get more higher-priced sales of the drug on the business market.
Shares of Pfizer are down roughly 40% for the yr through Monday’s close, putting the corporate’s market value at around $172.5 billion.
Pfizer’s non-Covid drugs
Excluding Covid products, Pfizer said revenue for the quarter grew 10% operationally.
The corporate said that growth was partly fueled by its recent vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, which entered the market throughout the quarter for seniors and expectant moms. The shot, often called Abrysvo, posted $375 million in sales for the period.
Recently acquired drugs also drove revenue. Biohaven Pharmaceuticals’ migraine drug Nurtec ODT and Global Blood Therapeutics’ sickle cell disease treatment Oxbryta drew in $233 million and $85 million, respectively.
The corporate said revenue was also fueled by strong sales of Vyndaqel drugs, that are used to treat a certain kind of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the center muscle. Those drugs booked $892 million in sales, up 48% from the third quarter of 2022.
A gaggle of shots to guard against pneumococcal pneumonia also contributed, raking in $1.85 billion in sales for the quarter, up 15% from the year-ago period.
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s blood thinner Eliquis posted $1.49 billion in revenue for the third quarter, up just 2% from a yr ago. That got here in just below analysts’ estimates of $1.54 billion, in line with FactSet.
Eliquis, which is marketed in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, is among the many first 10 drugs to face Medicare drug price negotiations.
Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal said in a research note Tuesday that the operational revenue growth throughout the quarter “bodes well” for Pfizer to satisfy its full-year guidance of 6% to eight% growth in comparison with 2022.
Pfizer drug pipeline, M&A
Pfizer is hoping to shift investor focus away from Covid toward its growth opportunities, including mergers and acquisitions and a record pipeline.
The corporate had a busy few months of product launches, which included a vaccine for RSV, an ulcerative colitis pill, a meningococcal vaccine and in fact, the most recent version of its Covid vaccine.
Investors are waiting for updates on a midstage trial of Pfizer’s oral obesity pill danuglipron, which could potentially compete with Eli Lilly‘s experimental obesity pill orforglipron. Positive data could solidify Pfizer as a viable competitor in the burden loss drug space, which Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have to date dominated.
Investors are also on the lookout for any updates on Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of cancer therapy maker Seagen, a deal the corporate believes could contribute greater than $10 billion in risk-adjusted sales by 2030.
The European Commission, the manager body of the European Union, approved the proposed buyout earlier this month.
Pfizer will hold an earnings call with investors at 10 a.m. ET.
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