Albert Burla, CEO of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, arrives to ring the bell to close the New York Stock Exchange.
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Pfizer on Tuesday cut its earnings targets for 2022, although it reported first-quarter results that improved at the top and bottom due to the strong Covid vaccine and antivirus sales.
The pharmaceutical giant now expects earnings per share of $ 6.25 to $ 6.45 per share for the year, which is lower than its previous forecasts of $ 6.35 to $ 6.55 per share. Pfizer attributes its guidelines for lower profit margins to R&D spending and exchange rate changes. However, the company still forecasts $ 98 billion to $ 102 billion in total sales for 2022.
Pfizer shares fell more than 1% during pre-market trading.
The company’s first-quarter revenue rose 77 percent to more than $ 25 billion from the same period last year, driven by $ 13.2 billion in sales of Covid vaccines in the quarter and $ 1.5 billion in sales of its oral Paxlovid antiviral treatment.
Pfizer reported net income of $ 7.8 billion, up 61% from the first quarter of 2021. Adjusted earnings for the first quarter rose 72% to $ 1.62 per share from the same period last year.
Here’s how the company performed compared to what Wall Street expected for the first quarter, based on analysts’ average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
- Adjusted EPS: $ 1.62 per share, compared to the expected $ 1.47
- Revenue: $ 25.66 billion versus the expected $ 23.86 billion
Pfizer said boosters and vaccines for children increased revenue from Covid vaccines during the quarter. Paxlovid’s sales have been driven by the launch of antiviral treatment in the United States, which has ordered 20 million courses. The Food and Drug Administration approved Paxlovid in December.
Pfizer has confirmed its 2022 targets for $ 32 billion in sales of vaccines against Covid and $ 22 billion on Paxlovid. CEO Albert Burla told analysts earlier this year that revenues from his antiviral treatment could rise as estimates are based only on signed deals or those close to finalization.
Paxlovid is an effective treatment for people who have Covid but does not prevent infection. Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid by 90% in a clinical trial in adults who caught the virus and were at high risk of developing a serious illness. However, he failed to prevent the infection in separate study results released Friday by Pfizer.
Pfizer is the most widely used vaccine against Covid in the United States and the European Union. In the United States, anyone aged 5 and over is entitled to at least a primary two-dose series.
Pfizer is sending data to the FDA about its three-dose vaccine for children under 5, the only remaining age group in the United States that does not yet qualify for vaccination. Burla, in a podcast interview, said he hopes the vaccine for younger children will be approved in June. The FDA initially tried to authorize the first two doses in February, but Pfizer postponed it because the data was not good enough. Burla said the third dose should significantly increase protection for the youngest children.
Pfizer also recently asked the FDA to authorize a third dose for children ages 5 to 11, the only age group eligible for vaccination who cannot yet receive a booster vaccine in the United States.
CNBC Health and Science
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