Pfizer’s revenue soared in the pandemic, but its stock valuation slipped relative to industry peers since 2000

In recent years, Pfizer has emerged as the largest Big Pharma firm. In 2022, its revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. But even though the pandemic has cemented the company as a leading pharmaceutical powerhouse — with a healthy M&A appetite — it does not count among the upper echelon of public companies by market capitalization. The Pfizer market cap analysis below shows the company’s ups and downs.

The situation, however, was different in 2000, when Pfizer was the ninth largest company with a market share of $202 billion — approximately $357.54 billion today, according to an analysis from City Index, a financial services firm. The data below comes courtesy of City Index.

While Pfizer’s market cap surged from 2020 to December 2021, it began to fall in early 2022. The main driver of the decrease is plunging demand for Pfizer’s COVID vaccine and Paxlovid. In the second quarter of 2023, the company reported revenue of $12.7 billion, equating to 54% less than the same period a year before, when its sales hit $27.7 billion. The company now anticipates 2023 COVID vaccine sales to fall 64% from 2022 levels, while it estimates Paxlovid sales to fall 58%. To shore up long term growth, the company has aggressively pursued M&A.

Pfizer market cap analysis

Over the years, Pfizer’s market cap has experienced significant fluctuations as a result of notable product launches, mergers and acquisitions, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis below provides an overview of its market cap evolution, with data sourced from yfinance, an open-source Python module that retrieves financial data directly from Yahoo Finance. Values on the y-axis are in dollars.

Milestones affecting the company’s valuation in recent decades

The data below is drawn from a variety of sources, including the Pfizer’s website, public financial data and our previous coverage.

• 1980s: The decade started on a promising note when Pfizer launched Feldene (piroxicam) in 1980. The anti-inflammatory drug soon became Pfizer’s first to generate $1 billion in revenue.
• 1990s: The launch of Viagra in 1998 marked a pivotal moment, not just for Pfizer but for the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. This breakthrough treatment for erectile dysfunction further propelled the company’s market valuation. The drug’s origins data back to 1989, when Pfizer scientists Peter Dunn and Albert Wood developed the drug — sildenafil — to treat high blood pressure and angina.
• By 1996, Pfizer aimed to commercialize the treatment for erectile dysfunction. By March 1998, it won the green light from the FDA for the indication. The company even hired politician Bob Dole as a spokesperson for Viagra in December 1998.
• 2000: A merger with Warner-Lambert marked a new phase for Pfizer, making it the ninth-largest company globally. While the year began with Pfizer’s market capitalization at roughly $170.74 billion, the merger elevated the company’s valuation to about $246.41 billion by the end of the year.
• 2003: Following the Warner-Lambert merger, Pfizer’s market cap fell. At the beginning of 2003, it was $168.90 billion — close to early 2000 levels. Pfizer’s acquisition of Pharmacia Corp., coupled with a significant $7.1 billion investment in R&D, however, restored growth, pushing its market cap to around $189.25 billion by year-end.
• 2009: Another milestone for the company was its $68 billion purchase of Wyeth. The market capitalization remained relatively stable this year, fluctuating between $97.87 billion and $97.44 billion.
• 2021: Starting around 2016, Pfizer’s market capitalization began a downward trend. From a position of roughly $171.15 billion in 2016, the company experienced a decline of about $18.53 billion over a span of four years, reaching its nadir in 2020 at roughly $152.61 billion. But as Pfizer led the global fight against COVID-19, its market cap soared from $207.83 billion at the start of the year to $329.72 billion by its end.