Pfizer predicts bigger-than-expected sales drop for two key products

Pfizer surprised Wall Street with a prediction for a bigger-than-expected sales drop this year for two key products: its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

The drugmaker also released an earnings forecast that is below analyst expectations, sending shares lower before the opening bell Tuesday.

Pfizer expects sales of both the vaccine Comirnaty and the treatment Paxlovid to tumble next year before starting to rebound.

That drop was expected as the drugmaker shifts from supplying government contracts to sales on the commercial market in the United States.

But Pfizer said Tuesday that it expects Comirnaty sales to tumble 64% to about $13.5 billion this year.

It predicts a 58% drop for Paxlovid to about $8 billion.

Wall Street expects more than $14 billion in sales from Comirnaty and another $10.5 billion from Paxlovid, according to FactSet.

Overall, Pfizer predicts that adjusted earnings will range between $3.25 and $3.45 per share in the new year.

Analysts forecast earnings of $4.34 per share.

In the recently completed fourth quarter, Pfizer booked nearly half of its $24.29 billion in revenue from its top-selling COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty.

The company brought in another $1.8 billion from Paxlovid.

The drugmaker posted adjusted earnings of $1.14 per share.

Analysts forecast fourth-quarter earnings of $1.05 per share on $24.38 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Shares of New York-based Pfizer Inc. slid nearly 3%, or $1.25, to $42.30 before markets opened Tuesday.