Pfizer reaffirms guidance after Q1 fall in Covid-19 revenue

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported a year-on-year decline in earnings per share and revenue on Tuesday, primarily driven by an expected decrease in revenue from its Covid-19 vaccine product, ‘Comirnaty’.

The company reported diluted earnings per share of 97 cents - a decline of 29% - and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.23 - a fall of 24% compared to the same period last year.

Consensus analyst expectations for first quarter earnings per share were for 98 cents.

First-quarter 2023 revenues for Pfizer totalled $18.3bn, representing a 26% operational decrease, primarily driven by a decline in revenue from Comirnaty.

Revenues from Comirnaty and Paxlovid were $7.1bn in the first quarter.

However, excluding the contributions from those products, revenues for the group grew 5% operationally.

Despite the decrease in revenue, Pfizer reaffirmed its full-year 2023 financial guidance.

The company also reported significant progress toward an “unprecedented” number of anticipated new product and indication launches, including FDA approvals for ‘Zavzpret’, ‘Cibinqo’ for adolescents, and ‘Prevnar’ 20 in paediatric patients.

“Our first-quarter results were in line with our expectations, underlining our continued confidence in achieving 7% to 9% operational revenue growth for fiscal-year 2023, excluding our Covid-19 products and anticipated foreign exchange impacts,” said chief financial officer and executive vice-president David Denton.

“We expect the majority of this growth to occur in the second half of 2023, given the timing of our expected near-term launches.”

Denton said integration planning for Pfizer’s proposed acquisition of Seagen was underway, with the board still expecting the transaction to close in late 2023 or early 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

“As we de-lever our capital structure after the close, we expect our strong balance sheet will continue to provide the flexibility for future dividend increases and share repurchase activity, as well as additional business development activity.”

At 0803 EDT (1303 BST), shares in Pfizer were up 1.1% in pre-market trading in New York, at $39.64.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.