Earnings miss the fly in the ointment for Pfizer

Shares in US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dropped by more than 2% on Tuesday morning despite the group’s quarterly and annual results reflecting a company with much to be positive about.

The market reaction was probably due to Pfizer’s quarterly adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) missing the $0.48 anticipated by analysts, at $0.42, even though this figure was still a 14% increase on the same period in 2019.

"Right away, our ability to move quickly and utilize cutting-edge science to help address the world’s most important medical challenges was put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic"Revenue rose 12% year-on-year to $11.7 billion, above the consensus forecast of $11.4bn, with the full-year 2020 sales figure coming in at $41.91 billion, a 2% increase. Adjusted diluted EPS for the year was up 16% at $2.22.