(CMCSA) on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $2 billion.
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On the downside, sales for Pfizer’s other major division, established products, fell 16.3 per cent from the year-ago period to $US5.2 billion. Revenue declined 2.2 per cent to $US12.09 billion.
“We have been intently focused on seeking to generate a greater portion of our earnings from increased revenues and I see our product portfolio, product pipeline and recent business development activity as supporting this objective”, CEO Ian Read stated.
For the year, Pfizer again lifted its earnings outlook, now expecting $US2.16 to $US2.20 a share, up from an earlier range of $US2.04 to $US2.10.
New York-based Pfizer still handily beat the average Street forecast of $11.49 billion.
Analysts had forecasted full-year earnings of $2.09 per share, according to FactSet.
Pfizer acquired Hospira, the world’s top maker of sterile injectible drugs, on September 3. That new class of drugs is anticipated to be lucrative, while cutting prices somewhat. That’s up from $895 million, or 31 cents per share, in 2014’s third quarter.
Pfizer’s revenue has been declining since 2011, with a wave of generic competition for about 20 drugs that have lost patent protection costing it an estimated $28 billion from 2010 through next year.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Merck rose in pre-market trading Tuesday on positive quarterly earnings results. That contributed to the decline in net income. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.55 billion.
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Overall, the drugmaker was supported by solid performances in vaccines, consumer health and oncology treatments, said Bernstein analyst Dr. Timothy Anderson in a research note. Overall sales slipped 2.2 per cent from a year earlier amid what Pfizer called “significant negative impact” from losses of patent exclusivity, particularly from sales of its pain drugs Celebrex and Lyrica and its antibiotic Zyvox.
