Pfizer desperately needs ammunition in its fight against activist investor Starboard Value. Fortunately for chief executive Albert Bourla, it found some by way of better than expected third-quarter results. An unexpectedly large surge of Covid-19 infections over the summer helped boost sales of its medicines Paxlovid and Comirnaty and allowed Pfizer to raise its outlook for full-year sales and adjusted earnings.
Unfortunately for Bourla, the drugmaker will need to find more rounds if it is to shake Starboard off its back. That is far easier said than done. The bump up in guidance — it now expects to pull in $61bn-$64bn in revenue for 2024, up from a previous forecast of between $59.5bn and $62.5bn — may look impressive. But the bulk of this extra gain is Covid-related and will not be repeated every quarter.
Strip out the Covid product gains and Pfizer’s predicament is unchanged. It is struggling to convince investors there is life after the virus and that it did not squander a once-in-a-lifetime cash windfall made during the pandemic.