Pfizer’s post-pandemic turnaround is gaining traction. The New York drugmaker has spent the last several years grappling with declining COVID-19 product sales, the financial burden of its $43 billion Seagen acquisition and looming patent expirations on several blockbuster medicines.
But on Tuesday, Pfizer topped Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter in a row, reporting strong third-quarter performance from both legacy and newly acquired products, as well as continued progress on its cost-cutting efforts.
The drugmaker reported $16.6 billion in revenue for the quarter—besting $16.1 billion estimates—and upped its full-year guidance by $1.5 billion to $62 billion to $64 billion.
The revenue beat was led by Pfizer’s cardiac meds, Eliquis and Vyndaqel, which raked in $2.5 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively. The oncology portfolio, which brought in $4.3 billion, also contributed.
But both units are set to take a hit in 2028, when Eliquis and Pfizer’s blockbuster cancer treatment Ibrance start to face generic competition. Pfizer has largely turned to acquisitions and licensing deals to offset the coming revenue loss, with big bets on oncology and the weight-loss market.
The company ponied up $10 billion for weight-loss biotech Metsera last year just a month before striking a licensing deal worth up to $2 billion with GLP-1 maker, YaoPharma. And in May Pfizer signed off on an oncology licensing deal worth up to $10.5 billion with China-based Innovent Biologics.
So far, the acquisition-based approach appears to be working for Pfizer. The drugmaker reported 37% revenue growth year over year for its acquired products in its third-quarter earnings report. The category was led by the Seagen-acquired antibody-drug conjugate Padcev, which posted a 55% sales boost. Migraine medicine Nurtec ODT also contributed, hitting 33% growth with $547 million in revenue.
In total, Pfizer’s acquired products alongside its newly launched therapies brought in nearly $4 billion in revenue, up 32% year over year. Growth there “more than [offset] declines across Paxlovid, Comirnaty, and Prevnar,” Citi analysts said in a Tuesday note.
“We believe we are on a pathway to the next phase of financial growth,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said of the company’s performance and prospects on Tuesday's earnings call.
“I’m particularly pleased with the 32% year-over-year operational revenue growth from our launched and acquired products,” said Pfizer’s new CFO, Cecile Guegan, who stepped into the position when previous CFO Dave Denton moved on to Nike in August.
The company's total revenue of $16.6 billion was down slightly—$71 million—from the year before due in part to declining COVID revenues, Pfizer said. But COVID products excluded, revenue for the quarter was up 7% year over year.
Pfizer’s multi-year cost improvement efforts have also played into its Q3 strength, according to the company. In August, the pharma unveiled an additional $2.5 billion cost-cutting plan that will take the company’s total operational trimmings to $9.7 billion by 2029. Since Pfizer’s 2023 acquisition of Seagan, which took the company’s total headcount to upwards of 88,000, the company has reduced the staff by 13,000 people.