Pharma giant, Pfizer, disappointed investors for little or no revenue growth in 2019 since its blockbuster drug Viagra lost patent protection. Also, the pain killer Lyrica manufactured by Pfizer faces the same fate from generic drug manufacturers this year.
The shares of Pfizer fell 2.7 percent in pre-market trading on Tuesday even after it announced fourth-quarter earnings that have exceeded Wall Street predictions. Nevertheless, the stock went up to 1 percent by mid-morning market trading among the post-earnings conference call.
Here is how Pfizer was compared with the expectation of the Wall Street:
- Earnings: 64 cents per share v/s 63 cents per share estimate by Refinitiv
- Revenue: $13.97 billion v/s $13.89 billion estimate by Refinitiv
So, the pharma giant’s adjusted earnings of 64 cents a share for the quarter was just a cent above estimation of the Wall Street and two cents higher than a year earlier.
The revenue came in at $13.97 billion, which is a bit higher than the estimated $13.89 billion and the $13.7 billion reported a year before.
The company forecasts its 2019 adjusted earnings between $2.82 and $2.92 per share, which is below average estimates of the analysts of $3.04 per share. It estimated the revenue for 2019 between $52 billion and $54 billion.
For the complete year, Pfizer reported adjusted earnings of $3 per share on revenue of $53.6 billion. It anticipates repurchasing approximately $9 billion of shares in 2019.
Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, said in a press release, “We enter 2019 with confidence in the competitive positioning of our businesses, the prospects for our recently launched products and product line extensions, as well as the strength and breadth of our research pipeline.”
Since becoming CEO on January 1, this is the first Dr. Bourla’s earnings report, succeeding Ian Read.
The Viagra manufacturer announced some plans to shuffle its senior management team in October. It has been trying to increase its pipeline of drugs and treatments, particularly in oncology, due to impending patent expirations.
The shares of Pfizer improved on Tuesday after it discussed the earnings call on its cancer drug portfolio and success with generics.
Meanwhile, the sales of anticoagulant, Eliquis and rheumatoid arthritis drug, Xeljanz have increased by 8 percent. Viagra sales fell by 7 percent because of the generic competition and pricing challenges in the U.S., said Pfizer. The sales fell as Viagra lost its patent protection.
Another, Pfizer’s blockbuster drug Lyrica (pregabalin), used for chronic nerve and muscle pain, brought in sales of $1.32 billion. Lyrica is expected to face generic competition later this year. The shares of Pfizer have fallen more than 9 percent in 2019, although the stock price has increased by more than 1 percent for the past 12 months.
