Pfizer Raises Sales Guidance on High Demand for Older Drugs
(Bloomberg) — Pfizer Inc. raised the midpoint of its 2026 sales forecast after reporting strong second-quarter demand for older medicines.
Sales for the year will be $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion, the drugmaker said on Tuesday, compared with its earlier forecast of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion. Revenue in the period was higher than Wall Street estimated, driven partly by sales beats for the blood thinner Eliquis and the heart drug Vyndaqel.
The New York-based company also expanded its $7 billion cost-cutting program, aimed at saving an additional $2.5 billion through 2029 as it continues to reshape itself after the collapse in demand for Covid-19 products. The next phase will be focused on “network structure changes, product portfolio enhancements and additional operational efficiencies,” it said in a statement.
Pfizer shares were little changed in early trading in New York. They had gained less than 1% this year through Monday’s close.
The company will have to navigate its next phase of the savings program without a permanent head of finance. Chief Financial Officer David Denton, who’s viewed as a calm force with strong financial stewardship, is set to leave later this month to go to Nike Inc. Company veteran Cecile Guegan will take his place as interim CFO.
Investors remain skeptical about Pfizer’s pipeline, where expensive bets in oncology and obesity have yet to pay off. While the company’s existing medicines are seeing strong growth, it’s also facing an estimated $35 billion patent cliff by the end of the decade.
The fact that the quarterly sales beat was driven primarily by legacy products like Eliquis raises questions about the growth strategy, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts John Murphy and Michael Shah said in a note.
“Pfizer still appears a long way from delivering the high-single-digit compound annual growth rate it targets over 2028-33, leaving investors looking for further pipeline progress and M&A to improve the likelihood of it being met,” they said.
One of the most high-profile tests came in June, when Pfizer said an experimental drug failed to improve survival in patients with an advanced form of lung cancer that couldn’t be treated with surgery. The drug came from Pfizer’s $43 billion purchase of Seagen Inc. in late 2023.
The company had expected it could be the first of a new class of drugs that deliver potent cancer-killing compounds directly to tumors, called directed antibody-drug conjugates. It ended up taking an impairment charge of $3.8 billion related to the trial failure, according to financial filings.
Despite the setback, analysts still see a number of near-term opportunities that could “help reshape the Pfizer narrative,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman said in a note before earnings were released. Still, “persistent questions around the value of the Seagen acquisition suggest Pfizer still needs to provide greater visibility into the breadth and timing of its oncology opportunities.”
Some of Pfizer’s cancer medicines have been performing well. Sales of the bladder cancer treatment Padcev rose 23% in the quarter, beating estimates. Inlyta, used to treat advanced kidney cancer, and the lung cancer treatment Lobrena also posted higher-than-expected revenues.
(Updates with additional information throughout.)
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