Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) reported its second-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. In the most recent quarter, the company was competitively positioning itself in terms of its pipeline and business development initiatives. Ultimately Pfizer delivered on both the top and bottom lines, but investors initially did not appear impressed.

The company said that it had $0.64 in earnings per share (EPS) on $13.15 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters were $0.62 in EPS on revenue of $13.01 billion. In the same period of last year, Pfizer reported EPS of $0.56 and $11.85 billion in revenue.

During this quarter, Pfizer announced that it completed its acquisition of Anacor for $99.25 per share in cash per share of common stock, for a total transaction value, net of cash and cash equivalents, of roughly $5.2 billion.

In August, Pfizer acquired all remaining equity in Bamboo Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing gene therapies for the treatment of patients with certain rare diseases, for an upfront payment of $150 million plus potential milestone payments to Bamboo’s selling shareholders of up to $495 million.

One of the key pipeline highlights happened in June, when the company presented final results at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2016 Annual Meeting (ASCO 2016). Pfizer met its primary endpoint in its Phase 3 PALOMA-2 trial for Ibrance. The treatment is ultimately for advanced or metastatic breast cancer in post-menopausal women who had not received previous systemic treatment for their advanced disease.

Ian Read, board chair and chief executive of Pfizer, commented on earnings:

Our continued sharp focus on executing against the distinct strategies for both our Innovative Health and Essential Health businesses has delivered a strong financial performance during the second quarter as well as for the first half of 2016. This performance was driven by all areas of the company, reflecting ongoing strength from our recent product launches and key in-line products, the contribution of legacy Hospira products, continued improvement in the revenue profile for our standalone Essential Health business, the advancement of our product pipeline and sound capital allocation choices.

Shares of Pfizer closed Monday at $37.31, with a consensus analyst price target of $39.08 and a 52-week trading range of $28.25 to $37.39. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was trading down about 1.5% at $36.74 in early trading indications Tuesday.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.