Pfizer (PFE) To Report Q3 Earnings: What's In The Cards?
Zacks Investment Research | Oct 23, 2019 10:16PM ET
Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE:PFE) will report its third-quarter 2019 results on Oct 29, before market open. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.90%.
This pharma giant’s earnings surpassed expectations in each of the last four quarters, delivering an average positive surprise of 4.63%.
Pfizer Inc. Price and Consensus
industry .
Factors at Play
Higher sales of Pfizer’s key brands, Eliquis and Ibrance in the Biopharma segment, biosimilars and strong emerging markets sales are likely to have made up for lower sales in the Upjohn group. Continued strong uptake in developed Europe and Japan as well as in certain emerging markets and consistent growth in the United States are likely to have driven Ibrance’s sales. Meanwhile, higher sales from Xalkori and Chantix and alliance revenues from Astellas for Xtandi are likely to have aided top line.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales of Ibrance (worldwide) and alliance revenues from Eliquis is $1.21 billion and $1.01 billion, respectively.
However, sales of some key drugs like of Prevnar 13/Prevenar 13 and Enbrel declined in the second quarter. It remains to be seen if sales of these drugs have improved this time around.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales of Enbrel and Prevnar is $469 million and $1.59 billion, respectively.
In the Upjohn segment, sales of key drug Lyrica are likely to have declined as the drug lost exclusivity in July. Viagra sales are likely to have declined due to generic competition that began in December 2017.
We remind investors that in July, along with its second-quarter earnings release, Pfizer lowered its previously issued sales and earnings guidance for 2019 to reflect the formation of the Consumer Healthcare joint venture with Glaxo (NYSE:GSK) and the Array BioPharma acquisition.
Other than this business development activity, an incremental negative impact of foreign exchange and unfavorable product developments in case of Prevnar (vaccine)and Xeljanz (autoimmune diseases) led to the guidance cut. These negative developments are expected to have weighed on sales of Prevnar and Xeljanz.
In July, Xeljanz’s prescribing information in the United States was updated by the FDA to include two additional boxed warnings as well as changes to the indication and dosing for ulcerative colitis indication following review of a post-marketing study. Pfizer had stated on the second-quarter call that the label update may affect prescribing and sales in the future quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales of Xeljanz is $564 million.
Meanwhile, due to some unfavorable revisions in Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) pneumococcal vaccination guidelines for Prevnar 13 in adults across the United States, Pfizer, back then, had said that it expects some decline in demand for Prevnar, which can weaken sales in the future quarters.
Investors will be keen to know the impact of these unfavorable product developments on third-quarter sales of Prevnar and Xeljanz
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s sterile injectables portfolio has been seeing lower revenues since the last few quarters due to persistent legacy Hospira product shortages in the United States. The company is facing supply scarcity for sterile injectable products, mainly due to capacity constraints and technical issues. The trend is expected to have continued in the third quarter
Importantly, in July, Pfizer announced a definitive agreement stating that it will spin off its Upjohn unit and combine it with generic drugmaker Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) in a Reverse Morris Trust transaction to create a generic pharmaceutical company. An update is expected on the conference call.
What Our Model Indicates
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Pfizer this time around. The combination of a positive Zacks Investment Research
Get The News You Want
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.