Pfizer aims to make a record amount of money in 2022, predicting that it would sell $32 billion in Covid-19 injections and $22 billion in Paxlovid, an antiviral coronavirus treatment pill.
As a result of the company’s mixed fourth-quarter results, Pfizer’s stock dropped more than 3% in premarket trading, beating earnings but missing revenue.
Based on Refinitiv’s average analyst estimates, here’s how the company fared against Wall Street’s expectations:
- Adjusted EPS: $1.08 vs. 87 cents expected
- Revenue: $23.84 billion vs. $24.12 billion expected
The weak sales in Pfizer’s internal medicine and hospital segments contributed to the company’s revenue shortfall. Internal medicine sales declined 3% year over year to $2.24 billion in the fourth quarter, while hospital sales were relatively steady at $1.88 billion.
Compared to the previous year, Pfizer’s oncology sales increased by 7% to $3.24 billion.
Pfizer’s fourth-quarter revenue, on the other hand, more than quadrupled year over year to $23.84 billion, thanks to $12.5 billion in Covid vaccine sales.
Paxlovid, the company’s antiviral tablet, contributed $76 million in fourth-quarter sales in the United States. In December, the Food and Drug Administration granted the drug emergency approval.
During the same period last year, Pfizer’s fourth-quarter profit was $847 million, more than fourfold its profit during the same period this year of $3.39 billion.
In 2022, Pfizer predicts sales of $98 billion to $102 billion, with adjusted profits per share of $6.35 to $6.55.
According to CEO Albert Bourla, in late January, the drugmaker began a clinical trial of a Covid vaccination that targets the omicron form in adults aged 18 to 55. The vaccine is expected to be ready by March.
As part of its collaboration with BioNTech, Pfizer hopes to have its Covid vaccine approved for children under the age of five by the end of this month, the last age group in the United States not eligible for vaccination. Children under five will ultimately require three doses, but they’re working on getting the first two FDA-approved while they finish the trials on the third dose.
Bourla has said Pfizer expects to produce 6-7 million courses in the first quarter and 120 million by year-end. The US government has placed an order for 20 million courses, with 10 million expected by June.
