Pfizer posts surprise profit, but key products miss on sales

Pfizer's earnings are closely watched because it employs around 5,000 people in Ireland and the drug maker is likely to be one of the multinationals that during the covid years made an outsized contribution to Irish corporate tax revenues

Tue, 30 Jan, 2024 - 10:45

Pfizer has reported a surprise quarterly profit, helped by cost cuts and fewer returns of its covid treatment Paxlovid by the US government than it had expected, but sales of some high profile products fell short of estimates. The New York-based drugmaker posted revenue in the quarter of $14.25bn (€13.15bn) which was shy of Wall Street estimates of $14.42bn.

Its earnings are closely watched here because it employs around 4,000 people in Ireland at sites in Ringaskiddy, Grange Castle, Newbridge, and Ringsend in Dublin. The drug maker is likely to be one of the multinationals that during the covid years made an outsized contribution to Irish corporate tax revenues.

Investors fled Pfizer last year as pandemic worries declined and billions of dollars in covid vaccine and treatment sales disappeared. The company has responded with a recent purchase of cancer drugmaker Seagen, a $4bn cost-cutting programme, and internal restructuring.

Jeff Jonas, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said he was concerned about the company’s non-covid performance, after revenue for products like breast cancer treatment Ibrance and the Prevnar pneumonia vaccine were lighter than expected.

"Historically I thought they had one of the best sales forces in the industry and they’ve been able to at least sell and execute on drugs pretty well, even if their R&D maybe wasn’t always the best. But there have been some challenges there recently," Mr Jonas said.

Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said the company was looking to leverage a "more focused, efficient structure" to drive growth of new drugs. Mr Bourla previously expressed disappointment over the launch of the new RSV vaccine Abrysvo, which has significantly trailed a rival shot from GSK. Ibrance, which is facing intense competition from rival treatments, saw sales fall 12.6% to $1.12bn in the quarter.

Prevnar brought in sales of $1.61bn. The company cited lower demand and "unfavorable timing of customer orders" for the shortfall.

Revenue from covid products, the Paxlovid antiviral treatment and vaccine Comirnaty, came in at $12.5bn for 2023, meeting the company's own targets for the year, but a far cry from the $57bn peak racked up in 2022.