Exterior view of the Pfizer headquarters building on January 29, 2023 in New York City.
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Pfizer on Tuesday posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, as its recently launched and acquired products showed growth.
Older top-selling drugs, including its blood thinner Eliquis, also helped drive demand in the quarter and offset the decline in revenue from Pfizer’s Covid vaccine and antiviral pill to treat the virus, Paxlovid.
Here’s what the company reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 75 cents adjusted vs. 72 cents expected
- Revenue: $14.45 billion vs. $13.79 billion expected
The pharmaceutical giant is looking to longer-term investments in its pipeline, including its recent $10 billion acquisition of the obesity biotech Metsera, to counter waning Covid product sales and declines from older drugs. Pfizer is focused on several crucial data releases this year, including late-stage trial results on an experimental targeted drug in lung cancer.
Pfizer reported revenue of $14.45 billion for the first quarter, up 5% from the same period a year ago. Sales increases for key products helped to counteract struggles in its Covid business.
The company booked net income of $2.69 billion, or 47 cents per share. That compares with net income of $2.97 billion, or 52 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.
Excluding certain items, including restructuring charges and costs associated with intangible assets, Pfizer posted earnings per share of 75 cents for the quarter.
Pfizer reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, expecting full-year adjusted profit to come in between $2.80 and $3 per share, and revenue to total $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion. That sales range would be roughly flat or down slightly compared with 2025 revenue of $62.6 billion.
Pfizer previously said the lackluster revenue outlook comes in part from declining sales of its Covid vaccine and Paxlovid, which it expects to fall by about $1.5 billion year over year to $5 billion.
The company also pointed to another roughly $1.5 billion year-over-year expected drop in sales due to certain products losing their market exclusivity. Some blockbuster drugs, such as the company’s pneumonia vaccine Prevnar, are facing more competition from rivals.
The results come a week after Pfizer entered into settlement agreements with three generic drug manufacturers that effectively extend the company’s U.S. patent protection for Vyndamax until June 1, 2031. That’s a prescription medicine that helps treat a rare, serious heart condition.
Newer and older products offset Covid decline
Sales of Pfizer’s Covid shot and Paxlovid both came in well under analysts’ estimates, according to StreetAccount.
The vaccine raked in $232 million in revenue for the quarter, down 59% from the same period a year ago, while Paxlovid sales fell 62% to $186 million. Analysts were expecting sales of $445.9 million and $286.2 million, respectively, for the two products.
Meanwhile, Eliquis generated $2.17 billion in sales for the quarter, up 13% from the year-ago period. Analysts expected $1.96 billion in revenue, according to StreetAccount estimates.
Other older drugs and some newer products also beat estimates for the quarter.
Targeted cancer drug Padcev booked $591 million in revenue, up 39% from the same period a year ago and surpassing the $542.3 million that analysts were expecting.
Pfizer’s vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, a more recently launched product, booked $180 million in sales for the first quarter. That’s up 37% from the year-earlier period and comes in higher than the $145.1 million that analysts were expecting.
Sales of recently launched and acquired products grew 22% operationally during the quarter, Pfizer said.
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