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New York-based Pfizer Inc. (PFE), renowned as one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products. Valued at $161.95 billion by market cap, the company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including oncology, inflammation and immunology, rare diseases, hospital, vaccines and internal medicine.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” PFE fits right into that category. The company, popular for developing the first mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year.
The pharma giant has fallen 29.2% from its 52-week high of $40.37, which it hit on Jun. 13, 2023. Shares of PFE are up 2.6% over the past three months, outperforming the broader Nasdaq Composite’s ($NASX) 6.3% gains over the same time frame.
In the long term, PFE has been down 28.3% over the past year and 3% in 2024. By contrast, NASX is up 13.9% on a YTD basis and 29% over the past 52 weeks.
PFE’s recent price trend looks bullish, as the stock has been trading above its 50-day moving average since early May. However, the stock has been trading below its 200-day moving average since early June, indicating a long-term bearish price trend.
On May 1, PFE stock rose more than 6% after reporting its Q1 results. The company’s revenue declined 20% year over year to $14.88 billion, coming in higher than analysts’ estimates of $14 billion. Its non-GAAP EPS fell 33% over the prior year quarter to $0.82 but beat the consensus estimate of $0.33. PFE raised its guidance for fiscal 2024, with adjusted EPS expected between $2.15 and $2.35, but kept its revenue forecast unchanged between $58.50 billion and $61.50 billion.
PFE’s overall underperformance can be attributed to the falling demand for its COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, and Paxlovid, an oral antiviral pill to treat COVID-19, forcing it to cut costs. The company is also facing patent cliffs for several top drugs. In December, PFE received a setback after it had to discontinue the development of its twice-daily oral weight-loss drug danuglipron after several patients complained of side effects such as nausea and vomiting. The company’s launch of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo last year has also lagged GSK’s vaccine.
To emphasize the stock’s underperformance, it has underperformed rival AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) as well. AZN stock has gained 8.1% in the past 52 weeks and 18.8% on a YTD basis.
Despite its recent underperformance compared to NASX, analysts are optimistic about PFE’s prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 21 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $34.20 is a 19.7% premium to current levels.
On the date of publication, Dipanjan Banchur did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
