On Wednesday Eastern Time, Pfizer announced that its 2024 revenue may be about $5 billion lower than Wall Street expectations. This caused its share price to plummet more than 8%, hitting its lowest level since 2014. The new crown epidemic brought record sales to Pfizer, and as the epidemic ended, Pfizer's stock price also fell back to its original shape.
Last year, Pfizer's new crown vaccine and antiviral drug Paxlovid generated combined sales of nearly $57 billion, equivalent to nearly 60% of the company's total revenue in 2022, with annual revenue exceeding $100 billion.
Pfizer's latest projected revenue in 2024 is US$58.5 billion to US$61.5 billion, which is far lower than market expectations of US$62.94 billion. It is worth noting that revenue from new crown drugs is expected to drop to US$8 billion next year, which is much lower than the US$13 billion expected by the market.
"We want to be conservative and reliable so that we don't create uncertainty again, and unfortunately, it's really not easy this year," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on a conference call.
Pfizer has used its windfall from the coronavirus pandemic to acquire companies, including a $43 billion deal for cancer drug maker Seagen that is expected to close this week. Pfizer also launched a new RSV vaccine based on mRNA technology, but the recent launch of the RSV vaccine has been disappointing, lagging behind competitors, and its stock price has fallen 47% so far this year.
Just last week, Pfizer announced that it plans to abandon the development of its experimental weight loss drug danuglipron (taken orally twice daily), which is another major blow to Pfizer. Pfizer originally hoped to join the currently hot slimming drug track and achieve a turnaround with it.
In addition, COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States have dropped sharply, with only about 17% of eligible people receiving the latest booster shot, in part due to declining concerns about the new coronavirus and psychological fatigue.
The drugmaker also forecast that in 2024, adjusted
At the same time, shares of Pfizer's new coronavirus vaccine rival Moderna also fell nearly 5% on Wednesday, while shares of Pfizer's German vaccine partner BioNTech fell 5.5%.
GabelliFunds portfolio manager Jeff Jonas said that to be honest, Pfizer is in a pretty bad situation, and the company has taken on a lot of debt to complete transactions like the acquisition of Seagen. He also questioned whether Pfizer was doing enough to fully offset the revenue losses it expects to face next year from generic competition.
"They're stuck in a rut, so they don't necessarily take the bold steps necessary to reinvigorate R&D," Jonas said of R&D.
The sharp drop in sales of COVID-19 products has also forced Pfizer to launch a plan to lay off employees and cut expenses, which is now expected to save at least $4 billion per year by the end of 2024.
Citi analyst Andrew Baum said Pfizer management is becoming increasingly urgent to take action to address its weak stock performance. However, due to the lack of promising high-potential tracks