Pfizer’s Profits Surge on Soaring COVID-19 Vaccine Sales

A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 19, 2021. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters

Pfizer reported that both sales and profits more than doubled in the third quarter of this year compared to the year-ago period, with the better-than-expected results coming on the back of soaring sales of its COVID-19 vaccine.

In its Nov. 1 earnings report (pdf), Pfizer boasted third-quarter revenues of $24.1 billion, a 134 percent boost compared to the third quarter of 2020. Sales of its COVID-19 vaccine—Comirnaty—accounted for $13.0 billion of revenues, or 54 percent.