By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Pfizer stock (NYSE:PFE) fell 3.5% in premarket trading Tuesday after the company’s fourth-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, revealing struggles in its non-Covid business.
Excluding contributions from Comirnaty and Paxlovid, revenue fell 2% on the year.
Sales of its pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Prevnar fell 27% in the U.S. as schedule of government purchases changed while Covid vaccinations were prioritized.
Shipments of its anti-smoking tablets Chantix remained suspended and weighed on the results. Tests had shown an unacceptably high level of a carcinogen in the medication. Sales of cancer drug Sutent were lower due to entry of competition on loss of exclusivity.
Fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled to nearly $24 billion as sales of its Covid vaccines exceeded expectations. Pfizer blamed the shortfall in revenue, excluding Covid treatments, to fewer selling days during the period compared to last year.
Comirnaty contributed $12.5 billion in direct sales and alliance revenue during the quarter. Germany’s BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) is Pfizer’s partner in marketing the Covid vaccines and they split the profits from it equally.
The company’s record-high forecast of $100 billion in 2022 revenue at the midpoint of its guidance range failed to cover the disappointment of its fourth-quarter numbers. The annual outlook includes revenue of around $32 billion from Comirnaty and $22 billion from Paxlovid.
Pfizer aims to make more than 4 billion doses of the shot in 2022. That compares with last year's 3 billion doses. Pfizer forecast 2022 sales of $98 billion to $102 billion, also below estimates of $105.48 billion.