: Pfizer’s stock down 7% as 2024 guidance for profit and revenue lags consensus

Pfizer Inc.’s stock PFE slid 7% premarket Wednesday, after the drug company set guidance for 2024 that lagged consensus. Pfizer, which is hosting an investor day later Wednesday, is expecting its acquisition of oncology drug developer Seagen to close on Thursday and its guidance includes an expected contribution from that company. Pfizer is expecting 2024 revenue to range from $58.5 billion to $61.5 billion, which is below the $62.6 billion FactSet consensus. The company expects EPS to range from $2.05 to $2.25, while FactSet is expecting $3.17. The revenue guidance includes an estimated $8 billion from its COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and its antiviral Paxlovid, as well as about $3.1 billion from Seagen and about $1 billion stemming from the reclassification of Pfizer’s royalty income from other (income)/deductions into the revenue line, it said in a statement. “In addition, we expect our cost realignment program to deliver savings of at least $4.0 billion by the end of 2024, which puts us on a path to potentially regain our pre-pandemic operating margins,” Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in the statement. The stock has fallen 44% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 21%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.