Shares in Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) fell slightly today even though the pharmaceutical giant beat expectations on Wall Street with its third quarter results.
The New York-based company posted profits of $2.84 billion, or 47¢ per share, on sales of $13.17 billion, for sales growth of 1% compared with last year’s third quarter results.
Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 67¢, three cents ahead of consensus on The Street.
“We reported solid third-quarter 2017 financial results and raised the midpoint of the range for our 2017 Adjusted diluted EPS guidance. Innovative Health revenues grew 11% operationally, primarily driven by the performance of our key growth drivers, notably Ibrance, Eliquis, Xtandi and Xeljanz, all of which are products that are early in their patent-protected lifecycle in attractive therapeutic areas,” chairman & CEO Ian Read said in prepared remarks. “While essential health revenues remained challenged primarily due to continued headwinds from products that recently lost marketing exclusivity and product supply, we had solid operational growth in emerging markets and in biosimilars.
“Looking ahead, we are encouraged by the convergence of two positive trends: an expected decline in the unfavorable revenue impact associated with product losses of exclusivity and the beginning of an expected multi-year wave of potential new product launches and product line extensions driven by our pipeline. We believe that the convergence of these trends, coupled with anticipated continued strong growth from the aforementioned innovative products, positions the company for long-term success.”
The company narrowed its revenue forecast between $52.4 billion to $53.1 billion and raised the midpoint of its full-year adjusted earnings forecast to a range of $2.58 to $2.62 per share.
PFE shares were down -0.7% in mid-afternoon activity today, trading at $34.91 apiece.
