PFE's New & Acquired Drugs Hold Key to Revenue Growth Amid Headwinds
With the end of the pandemic, sales of Pfizer 's PFE COVID products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid, have declined. Though COVID revenues are declining, Pfizer's non-COVID operational revenues improved in 2024 and so far in 2025, driven by its key in-line products like Vyndaqel, Padcev and Eliquis, new launches and newly acquired products like Nurtec and those from Seagen.
Year 2023 was a record year for Pfizer in terms of new drug approvals. It received nine new medicine/vaccine approvals in 2023 that have begun to contribute to top-line growth. In 2024, it gained approval for some interesting new products like two gene therapies for hemophilia, Hympavzi (marstacimab) and Beqvez/Durveqtix (fidanacogene elaparvovec).
The December 2023 acquisition of Seagen strengthened Pfizer's position in oncology by adding four antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak. The acquired Seagen products contributed meaningfully to Pfizer's revenues in 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. Seagen also has some next-generation ADC candidates in its pipeline.
Pfizer faces its share of challenges, including declining sales of its COVID-19 products, U.S. Medicare Part D headwinds, the upcoming loss of exclusivity cliff, uncertainties around tariffs and a volatile macro environment. However, its new products/late-stage pipeline candidates and newly acquired products, including those acquired from Seagen, position it strongly for operational growth in 2025 and beyond.
Competition in the Oncology Space
Other large players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck MRK and Bristol-Myers BMY.
For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 41% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 13% in the first quarter of 2025. AstraZeneca's strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).
Merck's key oncology medicines are PD-LI inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for around 50% of Merck's pharmaceutical sales.
Bristol-Myers' key cancer drug is PD-LI inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 20% of its total revenues.
PFE's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pfizer's stock has declined 4.4% so far this year compared with an increase of 3.1% for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company's shares currently trade at 7.97 forward earnings, lower than 15.54 for the industry and the stock's 5-year mean of 10.91.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has risen from $2.98 per share to $3.06 per share, while that for 2026 has gone up from $3.00 to $3.09 per share over the past 60 days.
Pfizer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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