Pfizer, the largest US drugmaker, reported quarterly revenue that missed estimates as sales of its key drugs fell short of expectations.
Sales of breast cancer drug Ibrance, which is expected to face competition from rival Novartis's Kisqali, rose more than 58 per cent to $679 million (€622 million), but missed the consensus estimate of $682 million, according to Barclays.
“Key franchises came in well below expectations, raising concerns about Pfizer’s ability go grow in the absence of M&A,” Goldman Sachs analysts said.
Sales of the company’s arthritis drug Xeljanz were particularly weak, the analysts said, adding that cancer drug Xtandi and Prevnar vaccine also came in lower than expectations.
Pfizer, which employs 3,200 people in Ireland, said three fewer selling days in the quarter, compared with the year-ago quarter, reduced sales by about $300 million, surprising some Wall Street analysts.
“Pfizer calls out a deficit of selling-days. . . Given that multiple major products fell just to the short side of our estimates, we are inclined to agree,” Bernstein analyst Richard Wagner wrote in a client note.
The company also lost marketing exclusivity for its depression drug Pristiq in the United States during the quarter.
Patent-protected drugs
Overall, sales of Pfizer’s array of patent-protected drugs jumped about 12 per cent in the quarter to $7.42 billion (€6.81bn), while sales of its generics and biosimilars fell 10 per cent to $5.36 billion.
Revenue fell 1.7 per cent to $12.78 billion, missing the average estimate of $13.09 billion.
Pfizer, which closed its $14 billion acquisition of Medivation in September, said net profit rose to $3.12 billion, or 51 cents per share, in the first quarter, from $3.04 billion, or 49 cents per share, a year earlier.
Total expenses fell 6 percent to $7.49 billion in the quarter.
Excluding items, the company earned 69 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 67 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Pfizer reaffirmed its 2017 adjusted earnings forecast of $2.50-$2.60 per share on revenue of $52 billion-$54 billion.
The company’s shares were down a shade in pre-market trading.
-Reuters
