Pfizer Raises Earnings Forecast After CDC Approves Its COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids Ages 5-11
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that children 5 to 11 years old be vaccinated against COVID-19 with the Pfizer shot yesterday. Pfizer, which released its third-quarter earnings yesterday, raised its forecast 2021 vaccine revenues to $36 billion from the $33.5 billion anticipated in June, reflecting 2.3 billion additional doses expected to be delivered in fiscal 2021.
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The CDC’s new recommendations apply to about 28 million children in the United States in this age group and allows providers to begin vaccinating them as soon as possible, according to a statement.
Pfizer reported revenue of $24.1 billion, up 134% from the third quarter of 2020, according to an earnings release.
Keith Speights, a contributing analyst for The Motley Fool, told GOBankingRates that this “is certainly a victory for Pfizer.”
“However, the big drugmaker won’t receive a financial boost in the short term. The U.S. government has already secured more than enough doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to give to younger children and meet the demand for boosters. Over the long term, though, it’s possible that the COVID-19 vaccine market for kids ages five to 11 could top $1 billion annually,” Speights added.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO said that the biggest key driver for the quarter of which was Comirnaty — the name of Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine — which contributed $13 billion in global revenue during the third quarter, according to a transcript of the investor call yesterday.
“Today, we have produced 2.6 billion doses and shipped 2 billion doses to 152 countries or territories. So far, 75% of our Comirnaty revenues have been generated outside the U.S., and we continue to sign agreements with governments around the world. We also remain on track to produce 3 billion doses this year, of which, at least 1 billion will go to middle- and low-income countries,” Bourla said.
CFRA Research said it is keeping a “Strong Buy” opinion on Pfizer, according to a note sent to GOBankingRates.
“Together with strong Q3 results, the expected CDC approval today of the COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11 should drive the stock price up, in our view. We lift our ’21 EPS by $0.07 to $4.19 and our ’22 EPS by $0.13 to $3.68,” CFRA said in the note.
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Commenting on the CDC recommendation, President Joe Biden said that the “program will ramp up over the coming days, and be fully up and running during the week of November 8. Parents will be able to bring their children to thousands of pharmacies, pediatrician’s offices, schools, and other sites to get vaccinated. Because of the groundwork we’ve laid, we can be confident that vaccinations for kids will be available, easy, and convenient.”
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