Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has been a terrible investment over the past three years. Revenue and earnings have generally moved in the wrong direction, as the company has been unable to follow up on the success it achieved in the coronavirus market. The stock has declined by 50% over this period.
However, Pfizer's most recent earnings report was strong, and helped jolt the stock. Could that be the start of a solid run for the drugmaker? Let's find out.
During the second quarter, several of Pfizer's products performed well. Consider its coronavirus business, which made a fortune several years ago. Revenue from this franchise has been somewhat inconsistent, but it made meaningful contributions to Pfizer's results for the quarter. Sales of its coronavirus vaccine Comirnaty came in at $381 million, 96% higher than the year-ago period, while Paxlovid, a medicine for COVID-19, posted revenue of $427 million, for a 70% year-over-year increase.
Meanwhile one of Pfizer's newer launches, Abrysvo, a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), is slowly gaining traction. It reported sales of $143 million for the quarter, more than double the amount in the same period last year.
Other good performers included Pfizer's anticoagulant Eliquis, which remains its top-selling product, and cancer drugs Xtandi and Padcev. Another is Vyndaqel (which it sells under a couple of other brand names), a therapy used to address heart problems in patients with a rare disease called transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis.
In addition, Pfizer continues to reduce expenses, and projects net cost savings of $4.5 billion by the end of this year. All these factors led to strong performances on the top and bottom lines for Pfizer. Total revenue increased by 10% year over year to $14.7 billion, while adjusted earnings per share were $0.78, 30% higher than the year-ago period.
Though Pfizer's results were encouraging, it's worth pointing out a couple of challenges. First, the company's coronavirus franchise will continue to be hard to predict from one quarter to the next and from one year to the next. Though it made a meaningful contribution this time around, investors can't count on that happening consistently.