Pfizer tops estimates, raises profit guidance even as sales fall

Pfizer on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and hiked its full-year profit guidance, as cost cuts helped to outweigh declining sales for the period fell.

Here’s what the company reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

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

The results come weeks after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to strike a deal with President Donald Trump to voluntarily sell its medications for less, as his administration pushes to link U.S. drug prices to cheaper ones abroad.

Under the deal, Pfizer has agreed to a three-year grace period during which the company’s products won’t face Trump’s threatened pharmaceutical-specific tariffs – as long as the drugmaker further invests in U.S. manufacturing. The company plans to invest $70 billion to reshore domestic drug manufacturing and research facilities.

The results also come as Pfizer escalates a bidding war with Novo Nordisk for the obesity biotech Metsera. Pfizer on Monday filed its second lawsuit against the two companies, alleging that Novo Nordisk’s attempt to outbid Pfizer to acquire Metsera is anticompetitive.