By Bhanvi Satija and Michael Erman
(Reuters) -Pfizer raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday after topping Wall Street expectations for second-quarter results as it expects to benefit from its cost-cutting efforts and a weaker dollar.
The company said the new forecast absorbs a one-time charge of 20 cents per share related to its licensing deal with China’s 3SBio for experimental cancer treatment. Shares of the New York-based company rose 2.8% to $24.19 in premarket trading.
The company’s shares have lost more than half their value from their pandemic-era highs as the drugmaker deals with waning revenue from COVID products and looming patent expirations for key drugs. In response, the company launched cost-saving measures last year across its manufacturing and research operations.
Pfizer said it was on track to deliver $7.2 billion in net savings from the programs by the end of 2027, out of which about $4.5 billion will be delivered by the end of 2025.
J.P. Morgan analyst Chris Schott said that the quarterly beat and the forecast raise did not come as a surprise given the company’s better-than-expected cost management.
“We would not be surprised with additional upside to EPS as the year progresses,” Schott said.
The drugmaker now expects to earn $2.90 to $3.10 per share on an adjusted basis in 2025, compared with its previous expectations of $2.80 to $3.00 per share.
Total quarterly sales topped estimates by $1 billion and came in at $14.65 billion, including a $22 million favorable impact from foreign exchange.
Revenue from Pfizer’s antiviral treatment, Paxlovid, was $427 million for the quarter, compared with analysts’ expectations of $244.4 million.
COVID vaccine Comirnaty, which Pfizer makes with German partner BioNTech, brought in sales of $381 million. Analysts were expecting sales of $188 million.
On an adjusted basis, Pfizer earned 78 cents per share for the second quarter, compared with analysts’ expectations of 58 cents.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
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