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Pfizer beats quarterly profit estimates on strong demand for blood thinner Eliquis

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UKRAINE - 2021/10/17: In this photo illustration medicine pills are seen in a hand dressed in a medical glove with a Pfizer logo in the background. (Photo Illustration by Pavlo Gonchar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Pfizer Tuesday slightly raised the lower end of its full-year revenue forecast after beating Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit, driven by strong demand for blood thinner Eliquis.

Shares rose 1.8 per cent to US$25.5 in premarket trading.

Pfizer is banking on newer medicines to offset fading COVID revenue and reduce reliance on aging blockbuster drugs, while investors look for signs that its US$10 billion purchase of Metsera can help establish a meaningful presence in the fast-growing obesity market.

The drugmaker, whose shares have fallen more than 50 per cent from their pandemic-era peak, expects to return to stronger growth after 2028.

The U.S. drugmaker now expects annual sales of US$60.5 billion to US$62.5 billion, up from US$59.5 billion to US$62.5 billion forecast previously.

On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 77 cents per share, compared with analysts’ estimates of 68 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)