Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla addresses a press conference after a visit to oversee the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at the factory of U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer in Puurs, Belgium April 23, 2021.
John Thys | Pool | Reuters
Pfizer projects it will generate record-high revenue in 2022, saying Tuesday it expects to sell $32 billion of its Covid-19 shots and $22 billion of its antiviral coronavirus treatment pill Paxlovid this year.
However, the company posted mixed fourth-quarter results, beating on earnings but slightly missing on revenue. Pfizer’s stock was down more than 3% in pre-market trading.
Here’s how the company performed compared to what Wall Street expected, based on analysts’ average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
- Adjusted EPS: $1.08 vs. 87 cents expected
- Revenue: $23.84 billion vs. $24.12 billion expected
Pfizer’s miss on revenue was driven by lackluster sales in its internal medicine and hospital segments. Fourth-quarter internal medicine sales fell 3% year-over-year to $2.24 billion, while hospital sales were largely flat at $1.88 billion compared to the same quarter in 2020. Pfizer’s oncology sales grew 7% to $3.24 billion compared with the same three months in the previous year.
However, Pfizer’s fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled overall to $23.84 billion year-over year. The company sold $12.5 billion of its Covid vaccine in the fourth quarter.
Pfizer started a clinical trial late last month of a Covid vaccine that targets the omicron variant in adults ages 18 to 55. CEO Albert Bourla has said the company expects to have the vaccine ready by March.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are also working with the Food and Drug Administration to expedite authorization of their Covid vaccine for children under 5-years-old this month, the last age group left in the U.S. that is not eligible for immunization. The companies expect kids under 5 will ultimately need three doses, but they are working to get the first two shots FDA authorized while they finish trials on the third dose.
Pfizer is also working to ramp up production and delivery of its Covid treatment pill, Paxlovid. Bourla has said Pfizer expects to produce 6 million to 7 million courses in the first quarter this year and 120 million by the end of the year. The U.S. government has ordered 20 million courses, with 10 million expected by June.
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