Pfizer beats forecasts despite revenue slide

Pfizer posted forecast-beating first-quarter results on Tuesday, as it reiterated its guidance for the full year.

The US drugs giant said revenues for three months to March end were $12.03bn, while adjusted earnings per share was $0.80 a share. That represented an 8% and 5% year-on-year decline respectively, but both figures beat Wall Street forecasts. By 1330 BST, shares in Pfizer had put on 2% in pre-marking trading.

Albert Bourla, chief executive and chairman, said: “Our strong performance in the first quarter highlights the resilience of our business even during the most challenging times.”

He said that Upjohn, its division for off-patent brands, had faced two expected headwinds during the quarter: generic competition for epilepsy treatment Lyrica in the US and the expansion of volume-based procurement in China. As a result, Upjohn recorded a 37% operational decline. Upjohn is in the process of being spun off as part of a merger with generics specialist Mylan.

However, he added: “The biopharma business grew 12% operationally, driven by strong performances from many key brands.” These included anticoagulant Eliquis and Ibrance, a breast cancer treatment.

Looking forward, Pfizer said the Covid-19 pandemic had already impacted sales and marketing activities because meeting with healthcare professionals had been restricted by lockdown measures. It continued: “The rate of new prescriptions for certain productions and of vaccination rates for most vaccines has slowed, which is currently expectedly to primarily impact second-quarter 2020 financial results.

“These declines are expected to be partially offset by existing patient refilling prescriptions.

“In addition, certain Pfizer medicines saw increased demand, which Pfizer believes may be due to physicians apparently prescribing them to treat or prevent Covid-19 infections or related conditions.

First-quarter revenues included an estimated net favourable impact of around $150m as a result.

Pfizer expects full-year revenues to come in between $48.5bn and $50.5bn, which absorbs a $600m unfavourable foreign exchange impact. Guidance for adjusted diluted EPS was reaffirmed in the range of $2.82 to $2.92.

Along with German partner BioNTech, Pfizer is currently researching a possible Covid-19 vaccine and hopes to start human trials imminently. Pfizer believes it will be able to produce “millions” of vaccine doses by the end of this year, and more by the following year, should the research prove successful.