Pfizer’s shares spike on earnings beat and outlook

Today’s headlines

What’s happening: Shares of Pfizer rose on Tuesday after the company released its second-quarter results.

What happened: The healthcare giant reported better-than-expected sales and earnings for the quarter.

Pfizer also raised its earnings outlook for 2025, providing a further boost to the stock.

How were the results: The company reported low double-digit sales growth for the second quarter.

• Sales rose 10% year-over-year to $14.70 billion, topping consensus estimates of $13.41 billion.
• Adjusted earnings surged to 78 cents per share, from 60 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter, beating Wall Street expectations of 57 cents per share.

Why it matters: Pfizer’s shares have lost over half their value from the highs recorded during the pandemic due to easing sales of covid-related products and the expiration of patents for major drugs. With shrinking business, the company announced a cost-cutting program.

Pfizer said it is on course to reach the anticipated overall savings of around $7.7 billion, while projecting another $4.5 billion in cost cuts by yearend.

The pharmaceutical industry is also facing pressure from US President Donald Trump’s plans to cut prices of prescription drugs. Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla said that the company is in talks with US government officials regarding the same.

Sales of Pfizer’s heart drug Vyndaqel surged 21% to $1.62 billion in the second quarter, while Comirnaty sales jumped 95% to $381 million and Paxlovid’s sales rose 71% to $427 million.

Sales of cancer drug Padcev rose 38% to $542 million, while blood thinner Eliquis sales climbed 6% to about $2 billion.

Pfizer’s revenue growth for the latest quarter was offset by an 8% decline in the sales of breast cancer drug, Ibrance.

Pfizer reaffirmed its 2025 revenue forecast of $61 billion to $64 billion. The company raised its adjusted earnings guidance from $2.80-$3.00 per share to $2.90-$3.10 per share.

How shares responded: Pfizer’s shares climbed 5.2% to close at $24.75 on Tuesday, following the release of quarterly results. The stock has lost around 7% year-to-date.

What to watch: Investors will continue monitoring announcements from the Trump administration around pricing restrictions on prescriptions drugs.

The markets today

The Japanese yen in focus today ahead of some major economic reports

Context: The JPY/USD forex pair edged lower this morning following the release of weak wage data.

Details: Real wages in Japan declined for the sixth consecutive month in June, as inflation continued to outpace growth in pay. Real wages fell 1.3% in June, after a 2.6% decline in the previous month. However, nominal wages surged 2.5% year-over-year in June. Although this was the fastest growth in four months, it missed market estimates of 3.2%.

The latest data fuelled concerns around the near-term projections for interest rates, with the Bank of Japan citing issues like persistent inflation, sluggish pay momentum and trade uncertainty.

Last week, the Japanese central bank had kept interest rates unchanged, but had raised its inflation outlook and warned of higher risks from global trade.

Meanwhile, minutes from the Bank of Japan’s June meeting showed that the central bank plans to hike rates again in case economic growth and inflation progress as projected. Most bank officials favoured keeping interest rates steady for now, due to uncertainty over tariffs.

The USD/JPY forex pair edged higher by around 0.1% to 147.69 this morning. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.43% to 40,722.22.

What to watch: Data on foreign bond investment (0350 UAE Time), foreign exchange reserves (0350 UAE Time) and stock investment by foreigners (0350 UAE Time) will be released on Thursday. Bond Investments by Japanese abroad fell by ¥331.60 billion during the week ending July 26, while stock investments by foreigners in Japan rose by ¥743.30 billion during the week. Japan’s foreign reserves surged by $15.6 billion to $1.314 trillion in June to record the strongest reading since July 2022.

Tariff-related announcements by Trump will also remain in focus.

Other Markets: US trading indices closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones index, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down by 0.14%, 0.49% and 0.73%, respectively.

The news shaping the markets

The Netherlands announced plans to buy US military equipment worth €500 million for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. The news sent the RUB/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.

Philippines’ unemployment rate surged to 3.7% in June, from 3.1% in the year-ago month, exerting pressure on the PHP/USD forex pair.

Ireland’s AIB services PMI fell to 50.9 in July, from 51.5 in June. Services activity declining to the weakest level since January 2024 sent the EUR/USD pair lower in forex trading this morning.

Australia’s Ai Group Industry Index for the manufacturing sector climbed by 4.9 points to a reading of -23.9 in July, which lent support to the AUD/USD forex pair.

New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in the second quarter, from 5.1% in the previous quarter. However, the latest reading came in-line with market expectations, sending the NZD/USD pair higher in forex trading this morning.

What else to watch today

Italy’s industrial production (1200 UAE Time), UK’s S&P Global construction PMI (1230 UAE Time), Eurozone’s retail sales (1300 UAE Time), 12-month Bill auction (1410 UAE Time), 3-month Bill auction (1410 UAE Time) and 6-month Bill auction (1410 UAE Time), Germany’s 15-year Bund auction (1330 UAE Time), US MBA mortgage applications (1500 UAE Time), EIA crude oil stocks change (1830 UAE Time), EIA gasoline stocks change (1830 UAE Time), EIA distillate stocks change (1830 UAE Time), 17-week Bill auction (1930 UAE Time) and 10-year Note auction (2100 UAE Time), India’s M3 money supply (1530 UAE Time), Canada’s S&P Global composite PMI (1730 UAE Time), S&P Global services PMI (1730 UAE Time) and 5-year Bond auction (2000 UAE Time), as well as Brazil’s balance of trade (2000 UAE Time).