Pfizer Q3 2026 earnings: very strong

Pfizer's sales in the third quarter of 2026 were flat at $16.6 billion: falling Covid medicine sales cancelled out solid growth in its other products. Its own adjusted profit per share held steady, while reported profit fell under heavy restructuring charges. The bigger news is that Pfizer raised its forecasts for the whole year, for both sales and profit per share. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Pfizer's adjusted earnings per share of $0.87 came in about 21% above the $0.72 analysts had expected on average, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. ¹²

The strong points

Leaving out its Covid vaccine Comirnaty and its Covid pill Paxlovid, Pfizer's sales grew 7% on a year earlier. ¹
The direct cost of making its medicines took a smaller slice of sales, 24.3% against 25.0% a year ago. ¹
Spending on buying or licensing outside drug candidates roughly halved in the quarter, to $669 million. ¹

The weak points

Total sales did not grow, slipping by $71 million from a year earlier. ¹
Sales of the Covid pill Paxlovid fell 63%, and the Covid vaccine Comirnaty fell too. ¹
Over nine months Pfizer paid $7.3 billion in dividends, more than its reported net income of $5,681 million, though well within its own adjusted profit. ¹

What the company expects

Pfizer raised its sales forecast for the year to $62.0 to $64.0 billion, $1.5 billion higher at the middle, its second raise in a row. ¹
It also raised its forecast for adjusted earnings per share for the year to $2.95 to $3.05, from $2.80 to $3.00, while expecting to spend a little more on research. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A very strong report. Pfizer raised its forecasts for both sales and profit per share for the year and earned well above what analysts expected, even though sales and adjusted profit were flat on a year ago as Covid sales kept falling.

The results as published

Notes

Pfizer's results release, 3 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 3 November 2026. ↩

Pfizer earnings: third quarter 2026