Pfizer Beats Wall Street Estimates
By PHIL GALEWITZ
01/19/99
AP Online
NEW YORK (AP) - Viagra sales regained their vigor in the fourth quarter, helping Pfizer Inc. on Tuesday beat Wall Street earnings estimates.
Excluding one-time items, Pfizer earned $711 million in the quarter, a 42 percent increase over the same period last year. Earnings per diluted share were 54 cents, beating analysts' estimates by 2 cents, according to First Call.
Net profit rose 14 percent to $634 million, or 49 cents per share.
Pfizer's total sales for the fourth quarter of 1998 were $3.87 billion, an increase of 26 percent over the fourth quarter of 1997. Excluding the negative effect of foreign exchange, total revenues increased by 28 percent.
Higher sales of Viagra , the anti-impotence pill, were driven by the drug's introduction in Europe and South America in the fourth quarter. Perhaps more significantly, U.S. Viagra sales also jumped 10 percent to $131 million in the fourth quarter.
Global Viagra sales were $236 million in the fourth quarter, still far below the $411 million in the second quarter when the drug was approved for use in the United States, but considerably higher than the $141 million in sales in the third quarter.
Viagra , the fastest-selling new drug in pharmaceutical history, hit a slowdown last summer after concerns about dangerous side effects grew and several large health insurers decided not to cover the pill. Though analysts once predicted at least $1 billion in Viagra sales for last year, most said the $788 million in 1998 Viagra sales that Pfizer posted still met or exceeded their latest projections.
About 200,000 U.S. doctors have written more than 7 million prescriptions for 3 million patients. Viagra is now available in 40 countries worldwide, though Pfizer is awaiting permission to sell it in Japan, the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world.
"Pfizer is very strong across the board," said David Saks, an analyst with Gruntal & Co. He stressed the company has several strong drugs, and is not reliant merely on Viagra . Indeed, Viagra is Pfizer's fifth best-selling drug, though easily the most recognized.
Pfizer had three drugs bring in more than $1 billion in sales in 1998: Norvasc, a high blood pressure and angina medication; Zoloft, for depression; and Zithromax, an antibiotic.
Diflucan, a drug for yeast infection, reached $916 million in sales last year. All four of the drugs saw double-digit growth in 1998.
"Based on these numbers, Pfizer is poised to have a superior 1999," said Hemant Shah, a drug industry analyst with HKS & Co. in Warren, N.J.
Shares of Pfizer closed at $115.87 1/2 , down 6 1/4 cents in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the full year, Pfizer's total sales were $13.54 billion, a 23 percent increase over 1997. Profit for 1998 was $2.63 billion, a 27 percent increase over 1997.
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