08:48 AM EDT, 10/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Pfizer ( PFE ) lifted its full-year outlook on Tuesday, driven by higher expectations for sales of its COVID-19 drugs, after the pharmaceutical giant swung to higher-than-expected earnings in the third quarter and revenue jumped 31%.

The company now expects adjusted earnings in a range of $2.75 to $2.95 for 2024, up from its previous guidance of $2.45 to $2.65. Revenue is pegged at $61 billion to $64 billion versus the prior forecast of $59.5 billion to $62.5 billion. The consensus on Capital IQ is for normalized EPS of $2.70 and revenue of $61.1 billion.

Pfizer ( PFE ) now projects combined sales of its Comirnaty and Paxlovid COVID-19 products to be roughly $10.5 billion, up from its prior outlook of $8.5 billion.

"We believe our cost savings programs will drive enhanced operating leverage over time that will enable us to consistently deliver on our financial commitments to shareholders." Chief Financial Officer David Denton said in prepared remarks. The stock rose 1.4% in premarket activity.

The company posted adjusted EPS of $1.06 for the September quarter, compared with a loss of $0.17 the year before, exceeding the Street's view for normalized earnings of $0.61 per share. Revenue climbed to $17.7 billion from $13.49 billion in the 2023 quarter, topping analysts' $14.87 billion estimate.

"I am pleased with the performance of our product portfolio in the third quarter as we continued to achieve exceptional growth with our oncology products," Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in the earnings statement. The company logged "strong revenue growth contributions" from its urothelial cancer treatment Padcev and prostate cancer medication Xtandi, among others, and saw "heightened demand" for Paxlovid amid the recent COVID-19 wave, according to Bourla.

In the specialty care business, revenue advanced 14% to $4.29 billion, driven by a 62% surge in the Vyndaqel family of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy treatments. Oncology revenue jumped 30% to $4.04 billion, including a 28% gain in Xtandi sales.

Revenue from primary care, which includes Comirnaty and Paxlovid, surged 44% to $9.06 billion. Comirnaty sales increased 9% to $1.42 billion, mainly buoyed by the timing of stocking following an earlier approval of the new variant vaccine in the US. Paxlovid revenue came in at $2.7 billion versus $202 million last year, amid higher utilization of the antiviral pill and a one-time contractual delivery of one million treatment courses to the US Strategic National Stockpile, according to the company.

"Our better-than-expected growth during the quarter for Paxlovid reflects higher infection rates and the strong commercial execution of our team," Bourla said in prepared remarks. "The demand for Paxlovid seems to have stabilized at the current levels and appears to be closely correlated with each wave of COVID-19."

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