Pfizer Inc. Earnings: Yet Another Quarter of Profitability

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) reported its results for the first quarter. Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical company which develops and manufactures prescription medications for humans and animals.

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Pfizer Earnings Cheat Sheet for the First Quarter

Results: Net income for Pfizer Inc. fell to $1.79 billion (24 cents per share) vs. $2.22 billion (28 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 19.3% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Fell 6.6% to $15.4 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Pfizer Inc. reported adjusted net income of 58 cents per share. By that measure, the company beat the mean estimate of 56 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $15.47 billion.

Quoting Management: Ian Read, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “I am pleased with our first-quarter 2012 financial performance, which was driven primarily by growth in certain brands including Celebrex, Enbrel and Lyrica, growth in key geographies such as China, as well as our continued ability to realize cost savings and efficiently allocate our shareholders’ capital. These and various other factors have mitigated the negative financial impact of product losses of exclusivity of approximately $1.3 billion compared with the year-ago quarter, including Lipitor in the U.S., and have enabled us to generate adjusted diluted EPS(NYSE:ONE) that is nearly comparable to the year-ago period.”

Key Stats:

The company has now surpassed analyst estimates for four quarters in a row. It beat the mark by 3 cents in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, by 6 cents in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, and by one cent in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.

The company’s net income has fallen for two quarters in a row. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, net income fell 50.2% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue has declined for two quarters in a row. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, revenue declined 4.6% to $16.75 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Cost of sales dropped to $2.97 billion, down 19.5% from the year-earlier quarter. Last quarter, cost of sales was 19.3% of revenue versus 22.4% a year earlier.

Looking Forward: Over the past ninety days, the average estimate for the second quarter has fallen from 58 cents per share to 56 cents, indicating that analysts are growing pessisimistic about the company’s performance next quarter. The average estimate for the fiscal year is $2.25 per share, down from $2.29 ninety days ago.

(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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