Pfizer (PFE) Stock: Blood Thinner Eliquis Helps Deliver a Clean Q1 Earnings Beat

TLDR

• Pfizer posted Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.75, beating the $0.72 Wall Street estimate
• Revenue came in at $13.8 billion, with strong demand for blood thinner Eliquis
• Net earnings fell 9% year-on-year to $2.7 billion; diluted EPS dropped 10%
• Full-year 2026 guidance reaffirmed: adjusted EPS of $2.80–$3.00, revenue of $59.5B–$62.5B
• PFE stock rose around 0.5% in premarket trading to approximately $26.33

Pfizer kicked off 2026 with a Q1 earnings beat, sending the stock up around 0.5% in premarket trading to $26.33.

Pfizer Inc., PFE

The drugmaker posted adjusted earnings of $0.75 per share, ahead of the $0.72 analysts had expected. Revenue came in at $13.8 billion for the quarter.

Eliquis, Pfizer’s blood thinner and one of its biggest revenue drivers, continued to pull its weight. The drug remains a key contributor as older products hold up better than expected.

CFO David Denton pointed to 22% operational revenue growth from recently launched and acquired products. That’s a number Pfizer will want to keep building on.

Net earnings, however, did slip. The company reported $2.7 billion in net income, down 9% from the same period last year. Diluted EPS came in at $0.47, a 10% annual decline.

Full-Year Guidance Held Steady

Pfizer reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, maintaining guidance it first laid out in December. The company still expects adjusted EPS of $2.80 to $3.00 and full-year revenue of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion.

Analysts had been modeling $2.96 per share and $61.4 billion in revenue, both within Pfizer’s guided range.

Pfizer also confirmed it does not expect any stock buybacks in 2026. That guidance holds regardless of how the year plays out.

Bourla specifically called out oncology and obesity as two areas where he believes Pfizer is “positioned to lead.”

Patent Cliff Still in the Picture

The patent cliff remains one of Pfizer’s bigger near-term challenges. Key protections on blockbuster drugs, including Eliquis, are set to expire before the end of the decade.

Pfizer has been working to soften that blow. The company has struck agreements with generic manufacturers to extend protections on certain products, including Vyndaqel.

It has also been adding new products through acquisitions and in-house development to build out the pipeline.

The R&D pipeline is described as advancing on multiple fronts, with results in oncology and obesity drawing particular attention from leadership.

Q1 revenue grew 5% year-on-year to $14.5 billion on a reported basis, above market expectations heading into the print.

The beat across both earnings and revenue gave investors a cleaner quarter than many had been expecting.

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