Pfizer Inc. PFE -0.28% said it expects to generate about $15 billion in sales for its Covid-19 vaccine this year as it posted higher quarterly revenue, but missed on profit expectations to finish 2020.
The New York City-based pharmaceutical company logged 12% revenue growth boosted by its Covid-19 vaccine and strong oncology results.
Revenue was $11.68 billion, compared with $10.45 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting revenue of $11.48 billion.
Pfizer said Tuesday the Covid-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech SE contributed $154 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, helping lift the company’s overall revenue from all vaccines to $2 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase.
Oncology revenue grew 23% year over year to $3.02 billion. Sales growth for drugs such as Vyndaqel, a heart medication, Ibrance, for breast cancer, and other oncology drugs helped drive growth in Pfizer’s revenue from therapeutics.
Pfizer shares were roughly flat in premarket trading after closing Monday at $35.80.
Two deals the company completed in recent years have left it with a more streamlined focus on developing new drugs.
During the quarter, Pfizer completed a deal to spin off its Upjohn unit in a combination with Mylan NV, forming a new generic-drug maker called Viatris Inc. That transaction followed Pfizer’s move in 2019 to shed its over-the-counter medications business, combining it with GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s consumer-health division.
Nearly two months ago, the company’s Covid-19 vaccine became the first approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in the U.S. A shot from Moderna Inc., which, like Pfizer’s shot, uses an mRNA approach, also got emergency approval from the FDA in December. Clinical trials showed both vaccines were about 95% effective in preventing symptomatic infections after two doses.
A laboratory study published last week suggested that new variants of the coronavirus found in the U.K. and in South Africa would have only small impacts on the efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine.
The company’s fourth-quarter net income was $594 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $337 million, or 6 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, Pfizer reported an adjusted profit of 42 cents a share. Analysts had forecast an adjusted profit of 50 cents a share.
Pfizer said it expects full-year revenue of $59.4 billion to $61.4 billion, and an adjusted profit of $3.10 to $3.20 a share.
Write to Matt Grossman at [email protected]
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