The struggle of Pfizer’s shares continued as the healthcare giant dropped to the lowest value since the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest milestone for the stock has failed to convert its COVID-19 vaccine boom into long-term sales growth.
Pfizer(PFE) shares dropped 8% on Wednesday to their lowest level in more than a decade after releasing a profit guidance forecast as demand for its COVID-19 vaccines and treatments diminishes.
The healthcare giant said that it expects its 2024 revenue to be in the range of $58.5 billion to $61.5 billion, representing almost zero growth from 2023’s forecast and coming below analysts’s estimates average projected sales of $62.6 billion.
Pfizer(PFE) said that it expects 2024 sales for its Covid products like Paxlovid pills and the Comirantry vaccine to be around $8 billion, a nearly 90% drop from the $57 billion revenue its Covid products brought in last year.
CFO David Denton also told analysts that the company doesn’t expect COVID-19 vaccination rates in 2024 to be different from 2023. CEO Albert Bourla said that Pfizer wanted to create a “good floor” to avoid overestimating demand.
Shares of Pfizer(PFE) plummeted on Wednesday as investors digested the subpar guidance, dropping as low as 9% to below $26 in early trading, hitting a record lowest intraday share price since 2013. That’s the largest single-day drop for the healthcare titan since 2009.
Pfizer has -50% return on investments this year, including dividends, which is by far the lowest of any public American company valued at more than $100 billion. The S&P 500 is up more than 20%.
The pharmaceutical company stated that it expects $3.1 billion in 2024 sales from its $43 billion acquisition of cancer drug maker Seagen in February. The deal was approved by U.S. regulators this week, and Pfizer expects it to close today.
Seagen is a leading developer and manufacturer of cancer medicines called antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which are designed to kill cancer cells and spare healthy ones. ADCs have become among the most desired cancer drugs, with Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb and AbbVie recently signing billion-dollar deals to access them.
