Pfizer stays the course on 2024 outlook after delivering better earnings than Wall Street forecast

Pfizer turned in a better-than-expected fourth quarter, boosted by products outside the drugmaker’s slumping COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

The New York drugmaker also said Tuesday it's reaffirming its forecast for 2024, a month after surprising Wall Street with an initial outlook that missed consensus.

In the fourth quarter, Pfizer said it booked 8% operational revenue growth outside its market-leading COVID vaccine, Comirnaty, and treatment, Paxlovid. That excludes the impact of foreign exchanges.

Comirnaty sales tumbled 53% in the quarter to $5.4 billion, and Pfizer took a $3.1 billion hit from Paxlovid for a revenue reversal. That was tied to the return of unused treatment courses that had been purchased by the government.