Pfizer raises 2026 guidance as Eliquis jumps 25%, but revenue is flat and Covid still drags

Pfizer reported third-quarter results on Tuesday that beat Wall Street estimates and raised its 2026 outlook, according to CNBC. Reuters' headline on the report says the same: the forecasts went up, driven by the blood thinner Eliquis and newer cancer drugs. The headline numbers hide a more interesting picture, though. Revenue did not grow.

The quarter in numbers

• Revenue: $16.58 billion, relatively flat from a year earlier. CNBC says an operational decrease of $57 million, mostly lower Covid sales, was joined by a $15 million currency hit.
• Adjusted earnings: 87 cents a share. Net income under standard accounting rules was $3.24 billion, or 56 cents a share, against $3.54 billion, or 62 cents, a year earlier.
• Eliquis: $2.52 billion, up 25%, against $2.40 billion expected by analysts (StreetAccount, via CNBC).
• Padcev, a cancer drug: $720 million, against $658 million expected.
• Newly launched and acquired products: up 32% on an operational basis.
• Covid vaccine: $808 million. Paxlovid: $449 million. Both beat estimates despite steep declines.

What the new guidance implies

Pfizer now expects 2026 revenue of $62 billion to $64 billion, up from $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion. Adjusted earnings are guided to $2.95 to $3.05 a share, up from $2.80 to $3.00. By our arithmetic, that moves the revenue midpoint from $61.5 billion to $63 billion, and the earnings midpoint from $2.90 to $3.00.

Set against 2025 revenue of $62.6 billion, the new range runs from about 1% lower to about 2% higher. That is why the company is still described as being in a comeback story rather than a growth story: even after the raise, the bottom of the range is below last year. The earnings range also absorbs a one-time $650 million charge, worth about 10 cents a share, recorded in the third quarter, CNBC reports.

The number behind the number

Add the Covid vaccine and Paxlovid and you get $1.257 billion, about 7.6% of the quarter's $16.58 billion in sales. Eliquis and Padcev together came to $3.24 billion, about 19.5%. So two products, CNBC notes generic rivals threaten Pfizer's biggest moneymakers, now outweigh the entire Covid franchise by a wide margin. The company's growth depends on the newer products continuing to rise at the 32% pace to cover that gap.

Pfizer is also leaning on costs. CNBC reports it expanded its multiyear cost-cutting program in August and now targets roughly $9.7 billion in net savings through 2029. Separately, Cecile Guegan, a Pfizer finance veteran who had been interim chief financial officer since August, took the CFO job this month.

The market

According to Nasdaq's quote data, which we read on Tuesday, Pfizer traded between $30.25 and $31.05 during the session after a $30.67 close on Monday, with a market value of about $173.4 billion. The 52-week range on the same page runs from $23.62 to $31.04, so the stock is trading at the top of that band.

What to watch

• Whether Eliquis keeps growing at this pace into 2027.
• How the Metsera weight-loss assets, which CNBC says are central to Bourla's plan, move through trials. Nothing in this quarter's numbers shows revenue from them yet.
• Whether the cost savings reach the $9.7 billion target.

Sources: CNBC; Reuters (headline); market data via Nasdaq; filings on SEC EDGAR. Some data may be delayed. This is market information, not investment advice.