Pfizer Inc. (PFE), headquartered in New York, discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products. With a market cap of $152.3 billion, the company offers medicines, vaccines, medical devices, and consumer healthcare products for oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular, and other therapeutic areas.
Shares of this pharmaceutical giant have underperformed the broader market over the past year. PFE has gained 16.9% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied nearly 29.8%. However, in 2026, PFE stock is up 7.6%, surpassing SPX’s 4.8% rise on a YTD basis.
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Narrowing the focus, PFE’s underperformance is also apparent compared to the Invesco Pharmaceuticals ETF (PJP). The exchange-traded fund has gained about 30% over the past year. However, PFE’s single-digit returns on a YTD basis outshines the ETF’s marginal losses over the same time frame.
www.barchart.com Pfizer’s underperformance was driven by a $1.5 billion revenue hit from patent cliffs and falling COVID-19 sales, with management citing a “narrow U.S. vaccine recommendation” for weaker demand. Non-COVID products grew 9% operationally, led by Abrisvo, Eliquis, Prevnar, and Vyndaqel, but shrinking margins weighed on results. The Pfizer/Valneva Lyme vaccine showed 73% to 75% efficacy but missed its primary endpoint, though approval is still planned. Pfizer is cutting costs with $600 million in 2025 manufacturing savings and betting on oncology and obesity, especially GLP-1 drug PF-3944, to offset COVID declines and drive growth post-2028.
For fiscal 2026, ending in December, analysts expect PFE’s EPS to decline 7.5% to $2.98 on a diluted basis. The company’s earnings surprise history is impressive. It beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters.
Among the 28 analysts covering PFE stock, the consensus is a “Hold.” That’s based on eight “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” 16 “Holds,” and three “Strong Sells.”
www.barchart.com This configuration is slightly more bullish than two months ago, with seven analysts suggesting a “Strong Buy.”
On Apr. 21, Courtney Breen from Bernstein maintained a “Hold” rating on PFE with a price target of $30, implying a potential upside of 12% from current levels.
The mean price target of $29.02 represents an 8.3% premium to PFE’s current price levels. The Street-high price target of $36 suggests an ambitious upside potential of 34.4%.
On the date of publication, Neha Panjwani did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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