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Pfizer (PFE+0.55%) reported its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations and its raising its full-year guidance thanks to a surge in demand for the pharma giant’s COVID-19 medications.
The news delivered a needed win for Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who has been facing a mounting challenge from activist investor Starboard Value. The hedge fund recently bought a $1 billion stake in Pfizer and has criticized the CEO’s performance.
Pfizer sales rose 31% to $17.7 billion in the third-quarter of 2024, compared with $13.5 billion during the same period last year. The company’s sales beat analysts’ expectations of $14.9 billion, according to a consensus estimate from FactSet (FDS+1.64%).
Additionally, Pfizer increased its full-year revenue forecast to a range of $61 billion to $64 billion, up from a previous projection of between $59.5 billion and $62.5 billion.
The company said its boost in sales was primarily driven in part to sales from its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid.
The medication was the company’s best-selling drug in the third quarter, reaching $2.7 billion in sales.
In a press release, Bourla said the company was able to deliver on a “heightened demand for Paxlovid during the recent COVID-19 wave.”
The company’s strong third-quarter performance comes as activist investor Starboard, which reportedly bought a $1 billion stake in Pfizer, has campaigned for change at the pharma company.
In a 74-page report posted last week, Starboard argued that under Bourla’s leadership Pfizer failed to build upon the company’s success during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Starboard, Pfizer has lost about $20 to $60 billion market value since 2019. Starboard also said that the company’s board “needs to hold management accountable.”
“While we agreed with some of the points they raised, we have vastly different views on many others,” Bourla told investors on a call Tuesday morning.
He added, that he isn’t satisfied with the company’s total shareholder return either, but believes they are “executing on the best path forward” to increase value.
Bourla also said that the company’s recent acquisitions will produce significant returns and that some have already been “transformational” for Pfizer.