Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) shares lost more than 3% in premarket trading after the healthcare giant revised its revenue and earnings forecasts for the year.
On Friday after market close, Pfizer said it now sees adjusted EPS at $1.55, down from the prior guidance of $3.35. Full-year revenue is now seen at $59.5 billion, down from the previous $68.5 billion.
The decline in demand for its COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, led to the company lowering its full-year outlook.
Pfizer will take back around 7.9 million Paxlovid doses from the U.S. government by the end of the year.
Still, some analysts viewed the guidance reset positively, with Jefferies upgrading its recommendation to Buy from Hold, citing 5 reasons:
- Guidance revision is largely driven by Paxlovid;
- Comirnaty performance ahead of buyside expectations;
- Cost cuts of $3.5B = 2024/5 cons. EPS more than hittable;
- Investors have an attractive catalysts path forward; and
- The SGEN deal will likely close.
“Since we launched on Large Cap Pharma, we’ve been as critical of PFE as any analysts on the street. We had a street low PT of $38, and we were below its ‘23 guidance + critical of mgmt's long term growth projections,” said the analysts.
“We think it’s time to flip to long on PFE, post its Friday COVID guidance cut + $3.5Bn cost reduction plan. In our view, PFE has one of the most intriguing catalyst paths over the next yr in large cap pharma and trades ~15% below where it traded at the start of the COVID pandemic.”
Pfizer shares are down 37.3% year-to-date through Friday’s close.