Is Pfizer Expected to Impress the Market with Its Q4 Results?

In the third quarter of 2018, Pfizer (PFE) reported revenue of $13.3 billion, a YoY (year-over-year) rise of 1% on a reported basis and a rise of 2% on an operational basis.

The company also reported adjusted EPS of $0.78, a 16.42% YoY rise. Pfizer managed to surpass the consensus EPS estimate by $0.03, but it underperformed the consensus revenue estimate by $230 million.

Wall Street analysts expect Pfizer to report revenue of $13.98 billion, a YoY rise of 2.03%, in the fourth quarter of 2018. The company is also expected to report revenue of $53.61 billion, a YoY rise of 2.02%, in 2018.

In the third quarter, Pfizer reported a drop in its Consumer Healthcare segment’s revenue in the US market mainly due to a loss of exclusivity for Nexium 24HR. The company also reported a fall in its Essential Health segment’s revenue, which was partly attributable to its loss of exclusivity for Lyrica in Europe.

According to Pfizer’s 37th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference transcript, Lyrica is scheduled to lose its exclusivity in the US market at the end of June 2019. According to the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call, it expects this loss to negatively affect its growth in 2019 and 2020.

However, following this major loss of exclusivity, according to the same transcript, the company doesn’t expect any of its major products to lose patent protection until 2026. While a small loss of exclusivity is expected from 2020 to 2026, the company doesn’t expect any significant revenue impact related to this event.

In the next article, we’ll look at Pfizer’s research and development pipeline in more detail.