Pfizer Crashes After Slashing Profit Guidance By More Than Half On Collapsing Demand For Covid Meds

Pfizer just lobbed a legendary Friday evening bomb when it slashed its revenue and earnings forecasts for the year as it agreed to take returns from the US of its Covid antiviral Paxlovid amid collapsing demand.

Waiting patiently until after the market closed on Friday, the company said it now sees 2023 revenue of only $58 billion to $61 billion, down $9 billion from its previous estimate of $67 billion to $70 billion.

The drugmaker said adjusted EPS are now expected to be between $1.45 a share and $1.65 a share, down by more than half from its previous earnings forecast of $3.25 a share to $3.45 a share.

Some more details from the press release:

• Sees $5.5B Non-Cash Charge in 3Q From Covid Inventory
  • Cuts 2023 Outlook for Paxlovid Revenue by About $7B
  • Cuts outlook for Comirnaty revenue by about $2.0 billion
• At the end of 2023, Pfizer will accept a non-cash return of any remaining Emergency Use Authorized-labeled U.S. government inventory, estimated to be 7.9 million treatment courses, and in the fourth quarter, will reverse the associated revenues currently estimated to be approximately $4.2 billion
• Any remaining EUA-labeled treatment courses previously purchased by the U.S. government will be converted to a volume-based credit
• Beginning in 2024, Pfizer will sell Paxlovid to privately insured patients (commercial) with prices to be negotiated with payers

In addition, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Pfizer announced that the company has launched a multi-year, enterprise-wide "cost realignment program" that will realign its costs with its longer-term revenue expectations. The program is expected to deliver targeted savings of at least $3.5 billion, of which $1.0 billion is expected to be realized in 2023 and an additional $2.5 billion is expected to be realized in 2024.

Translation: thousands are about to lose their jobs.

The one-time costs to achieve the savings associated with the new cost realignment program are expected to be approximately $3.0 billion, of which the majority is expected to be cash. These costs will primarily include severance and implementation costs. Pfizer will continue to refine the estimated targeted savings and their associated costs over the remainder of the year and will incorporate them into its full-year guidance for 2024.

The stock tumbled as much as 10%, briefly sliding below $30 after closing just over $32, down more than 50% from its all time high over $60 hit in late 2021, and tumbling to the lowest level since Dec 2014.

Needless to say, Pfizer mcPfizerface has been indefinitely mothballed.

The company better get Fauci and EcoHealth alliance to commission a new Wuhan-special wonderbrew soon, or else this one-hit wonder is set to plumb decade lows.