Pfizer Profit Crashes 44 Percent on Weak COVID-19 Vaccine Sales

Medical workers roll a trolley with boxes containing the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as Japan launches its inoculation campaign at the Tokyo National Hospital in Kiyose, Tokyo prefecture, on Feb. 17, 2021. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

Pfizer’s profit plunged over 40 percent year over year in the first quarter, with the drugmaker blaming falling sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment for the net income crunch.

In its first-quarter 2024 results, released on May 1, Pfizer reported total revenues of $14.9 billion, representing a revenue decline of 20 percent year over year from the $18.5 billion notched in the year-ago quarter.

Profit (net income) fell by a whopping 44 percent—from $5.5 billion a year ago down to $3.1 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The company blamed the profit and revenue decline on falling sales of its COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) and its COVID-19 antiviral treatment (Paxlovid), which saw sharp declines in the United States and the rest of the world.

COVID-19 vaccine sales plunged 64 percent in the United States and 91 percent in other countries, for a total worldwide sales slump of 88 percent.

Paxlovid fared better in the United States, with sales there declining just 8 percent in the first quarter, year over year. It performed poorly in other countries (down 89 percent), for a total worldwide sales decline of 50 percent.

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Excluding the COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment, first-quarter revenues grew 11 percent operationally, Pfizer said.

“I am very pleased by the strong 11 percent operational revenue growth of our non-COVID products in the first quarter, demonstrating our focus on commercial execution,“ David Denton, Pfizer’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. ”In addition, we continue to progress our cost realignment program and remain on track to deliver on our targeted cost savings goal by the end of the year.”

Sales Forecast

Pfizer lifted its annual earnings forecast, which exceeded Wall Street estimates. The earnings projection was boosted by cost-cutting efforts and stronger-than-expected sales of Paxlovid.

Even though sales of the antiviral pill fell 50 percent, to $2.04 billion for the quarter, they came in well above the $762.5 million analysts had expected.

The company said it still expects $8 billion in combined sales of its COVID-19 products—the vaccine and the antiviral.

However, Pfizer noted that there are risks and uncertainties related to its earnings forecast for the COVID-19 products as the market continues to become endemic and seasonal.

“Demand for our COVID-19 products has and may continue to be reduced or not meet expectations, or may no longer exist, which has and may continue to lead to reduced revenues, excess inventory on-hand and/or in the channel,” the company wrote in the report.

Pfizer raised both ends of its 2024 profit forecast range by $0.10—less than the first-quarter beat—and now expects to earn $2.15–2.35 per share.

Overall, Pfizer expects full-year 2024 revenues in the range of $58.5–61.5 billion.

Despite reporting a 44 percent net income slump, Pfizer’s announced adjusted profit of $0.82 per share topped analysts’ expectations by $0.30, according to LSEG data.

Shares of the New York-based drugmaker, which have lost roughly 11 percent of their value this year, rose about 4 percent, to $26.65 in morning trade.

Vaccine Controversy

While health officials maintain that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is “safe and effective,” there are lingering doubts given that a significant number of vaccinated people have reported various adverse reactions.

The most common COVID-19 vaccine adverse events are those that affect the body generally, with fever, fatigue, and overall discomfort being the top three, according to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). But there are others.

For instance, heart muscle inflammation (myocarditis) and inflammation of the lining outside the heart (pericarditis) have both officially been acknowledged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a known side effect of Moderna’s and Pfizer’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

Nervous system disorders have also been reported, with such disorders being the third most common in the Pfizer trials, coming after general and muscle-related adverse events.

Clinicians treating various persistent vaccine adverse reactions believe that the leading cause of such injuries is the COVID-19 spike protein.

Spike proteins exist on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that invades cells and causes disease. The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines (like Moderna’s and Pfizer’s) also induce the body to make spike proteins.

The cells that are exposed to the mRNA produce spike proteins and then display these proteins on their surfaces. The immune system then attacks these spike proteins, forming an immunity against them.

According to earlier reporting from The Epoch Times, clinicians have put forward six pathways through which the spike proteins can cause damage, including immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as blood clotting and vascular damage. Multiple studies have shown that spike proteins directly bind to clotting factors in the blood, promoting both large and microclot formations.

Spike protein also damages blood vessels and is prone to forming blood clots, which can block coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks.

Recent reporting from The Epoch Times indicates that CDC officials found evidence suggesting that both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines caused multiple deaths—before claiming that there was no evidence linking the vaccines to any deaths.

Marina Zhang and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.