Shares of Pfizer Inc. PFE rallied 2.0% in premarket trading Tuesday, toward a 4th-straight gain and to extend its bounce off a 2-year low, after the drug maker reported first-quarter profit and revenue that fell but beat expectations by wide margins. Net income fell to $5.54 billion, or 97 cents a share, from $7.86 billion, or $1.37 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $1.23 beat the FactSet consensus of 98 cents. Revenue dropped 28.8% to $18.28 billion but was above the FactSet consensus of $16.61 billion. Biopharmaceutical business revenue fell 29.0% to $17.97 billion, with revenue for primary care revenue down 39.0% to $11.51 billion, for specialty care up 3.1% to $3.61 billion and for oncology down 3.8% to $2.86 billion. Chief Financial Officer David Denton said first-quarter results give him confidence of achieving expected growth for the full year, with most of the growth occurring in the second half given the timing of new product launches. Pfizer reiterated its 2023 guidance ranges for adjusted EPS of $3.25 to $3.45 and for revenue of $67.0 billion to $71.0 billion. The stock has tumbled 23.5% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 8.6%.
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