The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
Pfizer issued a mixed earnings report on Tuesday morning, clocking earnings for the fourth quarter of the 2020 fiscal year that slightly missed Wall Street’s expectations, but raising its earnings guidance for 2021.
The figure that stood out was a surprisingly upbeat call on sales of its Covid-19 vaccine, that it expects revenues from the vaccine of around $15 billion in 2021. That’s above the FactSet consensus estimate of $12.7 billion.
The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share of 42 cents, below the 50 cents analysts expected. Revenues for the fourth quarter were $11.7 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $11.5 billion.
Pfizer said it now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share of between $3.10 and $3.20 in 2021, up from its previous estimate of between $3 and $3.10. Wall Street analysts expected earnings of $3.07 in 2021, according to FactSet.
In a note out early Tuesday, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen warned that FactSet consensus figures for Pfizer are a bit tricky, as not all analysts have updated their estimates to account for the sale of Upjohn.
Still, investors seemed to get the sense that the news was mixed, and Pfizer shares haven’t budged since the release. Shares closed at $35.80 on Monday, and were trading at $35.74 early on Tuesday. The stock is up 0.8% over the past twelve months, and down 2.7% so far this year.
Pfizer had an extraordinary scientific success in the 2020 fiscal year: the introduction, with its partner BioNTech (BNTX), of the first Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. It comes as the company executes a dramatic shift in strategy, getting rid of a plethora of peripheral businesses to focus exclusively on developing and buying new drugs. It has even rebranded itself, getting rid of the big blue pill that represented the company in favor of a new symbol that resembles a double helix.
The rapid development of an extraordinarily effective Covid-19 vaccine seems like good evidence for the power of Pfizer’s scientific capacity. But the company had problems, too, this past year, including disappointing data on a breast-cancer drug. Just this past week, it reported disappointing data from a post-marketing safety study of a rheumatoid arthritis drug.
In its earnings release, the company highlighted the success of the Covid-19 vaccine. “Our record-breaking success at developing a vaccine against COVID-19, along with our partner BioNTech, is just one example of what we believe this new Pfizer is capable of achieving,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO, in a statement.
The company said that it expects vaccine revenues of approximately $15 billion in 2021, accounting for “high-20s as a percentage of revenues” for the year.
Fourth-quarter sales for 2020 were 12% higher than sales for the same quarter in 2019. Pfizer said that growth was driven by sales of Vyndaql/Vyndamax, which treat a rare heart condition, and were up 96%. Sales of Prevnar 13/Prevenar 13, a pneumococcal vaccine, were up 10%.
The company reported $154 million in sales of its Covid-19 vaccine in 2020.
“Despite the mixed quarter, we are confident that PFE can meet its guidance for a 5-year revenue CAGR of at least 6%, or higher with the COVID-19 vaccine, which is above our ~4% estimate for the industry average,” Chen wrote. “Sales growth should be driven by solid execution and innovation.”
Pfizer is hosting a conference call for investors at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]
