Declining demand for Covid products slammed Pfizer results in the second quarter. Pfizer stock dipped Tuesday on the broad sales miss.
Now, Pfizer is mulling a cost-cutting program if demand for its Covid products — a vaccine developed with BioNTech called Comirnaty and the antiviral pill Paxlovid — keeps tumbling, Reuters reported. During the three months ended July 2, Comirnaty sales plummeted 83% while Paxlovid sales crashed 98%.
Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger said Comirnaty sales beat expectations, while Paxlovid came in light.
"The Covid environment continues to evolve rapidly and remains highly unpredictable," Pfizer's Chief Financial Officer David Denton said in a written statement. "In spite of this uncertainty, the company is maintaining its focus on ensuring successful fall vaccinations during the respiratory infection season."
On the stock market today, Pfizer stock slipped 1.3% to 35.61 at the close.
Pfizer Stock: Sales Miss Expectations
Total Pfizer earnings collapsed 67% to 67 cents per share. But that beat expectations by a dime, according to FactSet. Sales, though, missed projections at $12.73 billion, down 54%. Analysts had predicted $13.36 billion in sales.
Excluding the impact of the two Covid products, sales grew 5% operationally, Pfizer said in a news release.
But there were other pockmarks on Pfizer's balance sheet. Sales of pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar declined 3% to $1.39 billion. That's "especially disappointing given the launch of Prevnar 20 in pediatric patients," Third Bridge analyst Lee Brown said in a note. Prevnar sales missed by about 9%.
"This is a big miss for one of Pfizer's most important therapies," he added.
Revenue from Eliquis also is struggling amid generic competition. Sales of the blood thinner developed with Bristol Myers Squibb eked out 1% growth at $1.76 billion.
On the flip side, sales of heart-disease treatment Vyndaqel surged 42% and easily topped expectations at $782 million. Sales of inflammatory treatment Xeljanz and breast cancer drug Ibrance also beat forecasts, though Ibrance sales fell 6% year over year to $1.25 billion.
For the year, Pfizer narrowed its sales outlook to $67 billion to $70 billion. The company continues to expect adjusted income of $3.25 to $3.45 per share. Pfizer stock analysts had called for earnings of $3.32 per share and $67.28 billion in sales.
Follow Allison Gatlin at @IBD_AGatlin.
