Pfizer topped analyst expectations for the third quarter and raised its 2015 earnings forecast again, as sales growth from several products helped the world’s second-largest drugmaker counter costs tied to a $17-billion acquisition and pressure from foreign exchange rates.
The New York company said Tuesday that it now expects 2015 adjusted earnings of $2.16 to $2.20 per share, up from a forecast it had updated last month to $2.04 to $2.10 per share.
Analysts expect, on average, $2.09 per share, according to FactSet.
Pfizer updated its forecast after completing its acquisition of Hospira, the world’s top maker of sterile injectible drugs, on Sept. 3. The deal was made as part of an effort to boost Pfizer’s global established products unit, which handles medicines like the cholesterol fighter Lipitor that have lost patent protection but still sell well in many countries.
Pfizer included some of Hospira’s results in its third-quarter report, but the drugmaker also absorbed more than $500 million in costs and charges tied to the deal.
That contributed to a 20-percent decline in Pfizer earnings to $2.13 billion from $2.67 billion in the previous year’s quarter. Adjusted earnings excluding one-time items like the acquisition costs came to 60 cents per share in the most recent quarter.
The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 51 cents per share.
Pfizer sells the pain and fibromyalgia treatment Lyrica and the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra among many other drugs.
Its total revenue slipped 2 percent to $12.09 billion, hurt in part by foreign exchange rates, but the top line also beat the average Street forecast of $11.49 billion.
Global sales of Lyrica fell 7 percent to $1.22 billion in the quarter, while Viagra rose about 1 percent to $430 million.
Lipitor sales dropped 7 percent but still totaled $454 million in the quarter, and the new breast cancer treatment Ibrance brought in $230 million.
Overall, the drugmaker was supported by solid performances in vaccines, consumer health and oncology treatments, said Bernstein analyst Dr. Timothy Anderson in a research note.
Pfizer’s revenue has been declining since the end of 2011, due to a wave of generic competition for about 20 drugs that have lost patent protection.
Shares of Pfizer Inc. jumped 2.8 percent, or 96 cents, to $35.12in Tuesday morning trading while broader indexes slipped.
Pfizer shares had climbed almost 10 percent since the beginning of the year, as of Monday’s market close. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed roughly 1 percent.
