Shares in Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) remained steady today after the pharmaceutical company missed expectations on Wall Street with its 4th quarter results.
The U.S. pharma giant posted profits of $775 million, or 13¢ per share, for the 3 months ended December 31, 2016, compared to a bottom-line loss of $172 million in the same period last year. Pfizer also reported revenues of $13.63 billion, a -3% slide from its sales in Q4 last year.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 47¢, behind consensus on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $13.55 billion.
“I was pleased with the company’s overall performance during 2016 and believe both of our businesses executed well despite a challenging operating environment. We generated attractive operational revenue and earnings growth driven by our major products within both the innovative health and essential health businesses. In addition to strong business performance, we allocated our shareholders’ capital to a variety of value-creating initiatives that included company and product portfolio acquisitions, share repurchases, an increase in our dividend and ongoing funding for our R&D and commercial organizations,” chairman & CEO Ian Read said in prepared remarks. “We are operating with a highly focused business structure and management team, providing us with the best opportunity to generate attractive operating revenue and earnings growth as demonstrated by our 2017 financial guidance. Our strong in-market product portfolio and broad R&D pipeline include several potential first-in-class or best-in-class compounds in important therapeutic areas. I believe we are positioned for continued strong performance in 2017 and beyond, which will enhance our ability to deliver new therapies to patients and create value for our shareholders,”
Pfizer said it expects to post adjusted EPS of $2.40 on sales of $52.8 billion for the full year. The company pegged its adjusted EPS at $2.50 to $2.60 on sales of $52 billion to $54 billion for 2017.
PFE shares were trading at $31.50 apiece today in mid-morning trading, up 0.7%.
