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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hesham who wrote (4191)	7/10/1998 5:30:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 9523

Pfizer beats estimates, closes higher By Emily Church and Tiare Rath, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 04:09 PM July 10, 1998 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Pfizer Inc. shares rose Friday after the drug maker beat second quarter earnings estimates on strong sales of its Viagra impotency pill. Pfizer (PFE) reported second-quarter earnings of 47 cents a share, above the 44 cents a share expected from analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. The company earned 35 cents a share in the same period last year. The company's stock rose 2 to 118. Viagra spotlight "I think a lot of people were expecting this to be the blow out quarter for Pfizer. There had been a bit of hype in the stock," said SG Cowen & Co pharmaceutical analyst Ian Sanderson. Net income rose to $628 million from $457 million a year-ago. Revenue increased to $3.6 billion from $2.9 billion in the company's 1997 second quarter. While Pfizer (PFE) said overall sales were strong worldwide, the spotlight was on the company's newly-introduced Viagra product, which helps treat impotence in men. It was the company's second best-selling drug in the quarter. Viagra generated $411 million in sales between April 10 and June 26, the company said. The only drug that sold better than Viagra was Norvasc, a hypertension drug that generated $618 million in sales. Sanderson had expected sales of Norvasc to rise more than 20 percent, instead of the 18 percent increase it actually registered. In addition he expected sales of the antibiotic Vithromax to come in at $180 million for the quarter instead of the reported $163 million. Viagra abroad Pfizer plans to sell Viagra in 50 countries by the end of the year, assuming approval by European regulatory agencies. "While we caution that it is too early to make long-range projections about sustainable Viagra prescription levels, the initial response has been truly extraordinary," Pfizer chairman and chief executive William Steere, Jr. said in a statement. "Nothing was too worrisome in the numbers," Sanderson said. Some investors may be worried about prescription trends of the hot Viagra drug, but Sanderson said those concerns should ease as Pfizer begins marketing Viagra abroad later this year. Tiare Rath is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch. cbs.marketwatch.com