Global pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) reported better-than-anticipated fiscal 2021 first-quarter results aided by solid sales of COVID-19 vaccine (temporarily named as BNT162b2).
The company also stated that it intends to submit the application (along with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech) for total approval for its COVID-19 vaccine by the end of May.
Furthermore, the company upwardly revised its FY 2021 revenue and earnings outlook, along with the sales guidance for the COVID-19 vaccine. The stock ended Tuesday’s trading at $39.95, up 0.30% or $0.12 from the previous close.
The New York-based company posted first-quarter revenues of $14.582 billion, up 45% from $10.083 billion in a similar period last year. Excluding revenues of $3.50 billion generated by BNT162b2, Pfizer’s revenue rose by 8% on a y-o-y basis.
For the first quarter of 2021, Pfizer reported a net income of $4.877 billion, or $0.86 per share, compared with $3.355 billion, or $0.60 a share in the first quarter of 2020.
Excluding research and development expenses and amortization of intangible assets, among others, the Q1 2021 non-GAAP adjusted net income was $5.262 billion, or $0.93 per share, an increase from non-GAAP adjusted net income of $3.546 billion, or $0.63 a share in Q1 2020.
Analysts polled by Refinitiv had anticipated the company to record earnings of $0.93 per share on revenues of $13.51 billion.
Commenting on the data, Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO, stated: “I am extremely proud of the way we have begun 2021, delivering strong financial results in the first quarter. Even excluding the growth provided from BNT162b2, our revenues grew 8% operationally […].”
Notably, Pfizer is now operating as a focused pharmaceutical company, following the spin-off of the UpJohn Business in 4Q 2020.
Segment-wise,
- Vaccine revenues increased to $4.894 billion, from $1.611 billion.
- Oncology revenues rose by 18% y-o-y to $2.862 billion. Bosulif, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Aromasin performed well with revenue growth of 23%, 22%, 43%, and 54%.
- Internal medicine revenues were $2.594 billion, up 11% on a y-o-y basis. Eliquis and Pristiq reported growth of 26% and 46%, respectively.
- Hospital revenues were $2.343 billion, an increase of 12% from last year.
- Inflammation & Immunology revenues grew 7% y-o-y to $1.065 billion. Xeljanz recorded revenues of $538 million, up 19% on a y-o-y basis.
- Rare disease revenues were $824 million, increasing from $639 million in the prior-year quarter. Vyndaqel/Vyndamax generated revenues of $453 million, an increase of 96% from Q1 2020.
Pfizer was awarded the temporary use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in late December. The company aims to deliver 300 million doses by the end of July.
In general, the FDA takes at least a year to endorse a drug. However, considering the pandemic, which has killed over 600,000 people in the US, the FDA has permitted the administration of the vaccine under the Emergency Use Authorization.
The authorization provides conditional approval based on two months of clinical trial data.
On April 1, Pfizer and BioNTech stated that the latest clinical data demonstrated that their two-dose COVID-19 vaccine was safe and over 91% effective even six months after administering the second dose.
While revealing the data, Bourla stated that the latest data enables the company to file “a Biologic License Application” with the FDA. A Biologic License Application can be submitted only with six months of data. The license does remove restraints on the vaccine (full approval).
In the second half of July, Pfizer aims to apply for a EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) for a booster shot that could safeguard against other variants of COVID-19.
Similarly, in September, the company intends to apply for its vaccine for administration in young children. Finally, in November 2021, Pfizer aims to apply for authorization in infants.
If the vaccine is completely approved, it paves way for Pfizer and BioNTech to market the drug straight away to consumers and amend its pricing.
The full license will also allow the vaccine to be continuously offered in the market even after the pandemic ends and the US is taken from the list of “emergency.”
In the future, the company now anticipates FY 2021 revenues to be in the range of $70.50 billion to $72.50 billion, an upward revision from the earlier range of $59.40 billion to $61.40 billion.
Likewise, the company expects FY 2021 adjusted earnings to be between $3.55 and $3.64 per share, up from the prior range of $3.10 to $3.20 per share. Also, Pfizer now anticipates the COVID-19 vaccine to generate revenue of $26 billion in FY 2021, an increase from the earlier outlook of roughly $15 billion.
The quarterly earnings beat and upward revision of revenues and earnings and the sale guidance for the COVID-19 vaccine are expected to keep the stock bullish in the short term.
The historical price chart indicates that the stock has broken above the long-term resistance at 37. The MACD indicator is also rising. Therefore, we are anticipating the stock to rally further in the days ahead.
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