Pfizer (PFE) Q3 2025 Earnings

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks during a press conference after a visit to monitor the production of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at the Pfizer factory in Puurs, Belgium, April 23, 2021.

John Thys | Reuters

Pfizer on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that beat estimates and raised its full-year profit forecast as cost cuts helped offset declining sales in the period.

The pharmaceutical giant now expects full-year adjusted earnings between $3 and $3.15 per share, up from its previous forecast of $2.90 to $3.10 per share. Pfizer said this reflected the company’s “solid” performance this year, “continued confidence in our business” and progress in cost reduction, among other things.

Pfizer said it also included a $1.35 billion one-time charge related to its licensing agreement with Chinese biotech 3SBio, which reduced profits by about 20 cents per share. The company said its 2025 forecast also takes into account President Donald Trump’s current tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico. This does not reflect the pharmaceutical-specific tariffs threatened by Trump, as the company is exempt from those duties for three years as part of a new drug pricing deal with the president.

That agreement has no impact on Pfizer’s 2025 guidance, but the company said it expects a dilutive effect on its 2026 guidance, CFO Dave Denton said Tuesday on a third-quarter earnings call. Denton said the company expects to provide its 2026 guidance by the end of the year.

Pfizer maintained its full-year revenue forecast of $61 billion to $64 billion.

Shares of Pfizer rose more than 1% on Tuesday.

Here’s what the company reported for the third quarter compared to Wall Street’s expectations, based on an analyst survey from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 87 cents adjusted versus 63 cents expected
• Revenue: $16.65 billion versus expected $16.58 billion

Pfizer reported third-quarter revenue of $16.65 billion, down 6% from the same period last year, largely due to lower demand for its Covid vaccine and Paxlovid, an antiviral pill against the virus.

The company had net income of $3.54 billion, or 62 cents per share. By comparison, net income was $4.47 billion, or 78 cents per share, in the same period last year.

Excluding certain items, including restructuring costs and costs related to intangible assets, the company reported earnings per share of 87 cents for the quarter.

“Pfizer’s performance continues to exceed expectations and deliver strong results even as Covid incidence remains low,” Denton said during the earnings call.

Also on Tuesday, Pfizer said it was on track to cut costs by about $7.7 billion by the end of 2027 under two separate initiatives. As part of this, the company announced it would cut costs by $4.5 billion by the end of 2025.

The findings come weeks after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to strike a deal with Trump to voluntarily sell its drugs at a cheaper price as his administration pushes to peg U.S. drug prices to cheaper ones abroad.

As part of the agreement, Pfizer agreed to a three-year grace period during which the company’s products would not be subject to the pharmaceutical-specific tariffs threatened by Trump – as long as the drugmaker continued to invest in US production. The company plans to invest $70 billion to rebuild domestic drug production and research facilities.

In the conference call, Denton said the deal “will help ensure U.S. patients pay lower prices for prescription drugs while providing the clarity we need to focus on our business and our investments in future innovation.”

Pfizer is slowly getting back on its feet after a rapid decline in its Covid business over the past three years. The company is looking to new ways to increase sales, including through cancer products from its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen and a planned deal with obesity biotech Metsera.

But the drugmaker is in a heated bidding war with Novo Nordisk for Metsera. Both drug companies increased their offers for Metsera, but the biotech company said Tuesday that Novo Nordisk’s new offer was “superior.” This came a day after Pfizer filed its second lawsuit against the two companies, alleging that Novo Nordisk’s attempt to outbid Pfizer in its acquisition of Metsera was anti-competitive.

“We believe that Novo Nordisk’s offer is illusory and cannot constitute a superior offer under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law and there is a high risk that it will never be implemented,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during Tuesday’s conference call.

“What I can say is that our belief in the promise of the Pfizer-Metsera combination is strong and unwavering,” he said.

Shares of Pfizer are down 7% for the year.

Weaker sales of Covid products

Pfizer said its Covid products weighed on sales in the third quarter as lower infection rates reduced Paxlovid demand and a narrower vaccine recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US shrank the eligible population for the shot, called Comirnaty.

In September, CDC advisers recommended that everyone consult a doctor when deciding whether to get a vaccine — a gentler guide to vaccination than in previous years. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, has sought to redefine the country’s vaccination policy through a series of sweeping measures.

The company’s Covid vaccination business generated $1.15 billion in third-quarter revenue, down 19% from the same period last year. Analysts expected the shot to bring in $1.13 billion in revenue for the quarter, according to StreetAccount estimates.

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Pfizer’s Covid antiviral pill Paxlovid posted third-quarter sales of $1.23 billion, down 55% from the same period last year. Analysts expected the shot to bring in $1.37 billion in sales during that period, according to StreetAccount estimates.

The company said third-quarter sales were helped by higher sales of several products, including blood thinner Eliquis, which it shares with Bristol Myers Squibb. According to StreetAccount, this drug generated sales of $2.02 billion, up 25% and beating analysts’ estimates for the period.

Eliquis is among the first drugs for which new rates will be negotiated with Medicare in 2026 under a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Pfizer said its Vyndaqel drug, used to treat a certain type of cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle, and its migraine drug Nurtec also saw higher sales. Vyndaqel Drugs posted revenue of $1.59 billion, while Nurtec posted revenue of $412 million, topping both analyst estimates for the period.