Empty vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are seen at a first come first serve drive-thru vaccination site operated by the Lake County Health Department on January 28, 2021 in Groveland, Florida.
Paul Hennessy | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Pfizer expects to sell about $15 billion in coronavirus vaccine doses this year, the company announced in releasing its fourth-quarter earnings Tuesday.
The company’s Covid-19 vaccine, which it’s making with German partner BioNTech, was the first approved for emergency use in the U.S. It forecast between $59.4 and $61.4 billion in revenue this year.
Here’s how Pfizer performed in the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, according to average estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
- Adjusted EPS: 42 cents versus 48 cents, expected.
- Revenue: $11.68 billion versus $11.43 billion, expected.
Revenue rose 12% to $11.68 billion from $10.44 billion during the same quarter last year — better than analysts expected.
Shares of Pfizer were essentially flat in premarket trading.
“As a company, we saw the culmination of Pfizer’s decade-long conversion into a pure-play, science and innovation-focused company,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a press release. “Right away, our ability to move quickly and utilize cutting-edge science to help address the world’s most important medical challenges was put to the test by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Pfizer, like other Covid-19 vaccine makers, has been struggling to meet the demand for shots that will help bring an end to the pandemic. Pfizer has said it expects to deliver 200 million doses of its two-shot vaccine to the U.S. by July 31. It recently enlisted the help of French drugmaker Sanofi to help produce doses.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.