Pfizer Inc’s (PFE) fourth-quarter earnings, reported on Tuesday, fell short of Wall Street estimates, as sales of its Ibrance drug also came in below expectations.
Pfizer shares closed lower for the sixth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since July 30th 2019. The stock went down 5.03% ($2.02) to $38.14, after touching an intraday low at $37.95, or a price level not seen since December 5th ($37.79).
Shares of Pfizer Inc have retreated 2.65% so far in 2020 compared with a 1.41% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).
In 2019, Pfizer Inc’s stock went down 10.24%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 28.88% gain.
Total revenue shrank 9% year-on-year to $12.69 billion during the fourth quarter, in part suppressed by fierce competition for Pfizer’s pain treatment Lyrica, which lost patent protection in 2019.
Sales of Pfizer Inc’s Ibrance breast cancer drug surged 13.2% year-on-year to $1.28 billion during the latest quarter, while falling short of the median analyst estimate of $1.35 billion.
Meanwhile, net loss attributable to shareholders shrank to $337 million ($0.06 per share) during the fourth quarter from $394 million ($0.07 per share) in the year-ago period.
Earnings per share, which exclude special items, were reported at $0.55 during the latest quarter, while missing a consensus of estimates of $0.58 per share.
Pfizer Inc also said that it expected full-year 2020 adjusted earnings within the range of $2.82 to $2.92 per share.
Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation
According to CNN Money, the 10 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Pfizer Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $42.00, with a high estimate of $53.00 and a low estimate of $37.00. The median estimate represents a 10.12% upside compared to the closing price of $38.14 on January 28th.
The same media also reported that at least 6 out of 12 surveyed investment analysts had rated Pfizer Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 4 – as “Buy”.
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
