04:00 PM EDT, 04/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Health care stocks were rising late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Health Care Index adding 1.2% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) advancing 0.7%.

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) increased 0.1%.

In corporate news, Pfizer's ( PFE ) Q1 earnings unexpectedly increased year on year even as sales fell below Wall Street's estimates, while the pharmaceutical giant reiterated its full-year outlook. Its shares popped 3.5%.

Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) has agreed to pay $202 million in the settlement of a civil fraud lawsuit accusing it of paying kickbacks to healthcare practitioners to promote its HIV treatment drugs, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a Tuesday statement. Gilead shares declined 1.8%.

NeoGenomics ( NEO ) shares fell 35% after Needham cut the company's price target to $8.50 from $18 while maintaining the buy rating.

AstraZeneca ( AZN ) does not expect any material long-term impact from potential US tariffs on European medicine imports, CEO Pascal Soriot said during the company's Q1 earnings call on Tuesday. Earlier, the company reported Q1 core earnings of $2.49 per diluted share, up 21% from a year earlier and ahead of the FactSet consensus estimate of $2.24. Its shares gained 2.6%.

Novo Nordisk ( NVO ) and Hims & Hers Health ( HIMS ) formed a partnership that will allow US consumers to access the NovoCare pharmacy via the Hims platform with a bundled offering of all dose strengths of Wegovy and a Hims membership for $599 per month, the companies said Tuesday. Novo shares rose 3.9% and Hims & Hers surged 23%.