Pfizer Q2 2026 Earnings: Non-COVID Growth Raises Revenue Outlook

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $15.03 billion, up 3% from $14.65 billion a year earlier, while reported diluted EPS swung to a $0.04 loss from earnings of $0.51; adjusted diluted EPS was $0.77 versus $0.78. Non-COVID products and recently launched or acquired medicines drove growth, but $4.3 billion in non-cash intangible-asset impairments pushed GAAP results into a loss even as adjusted income remained nearly unchanged.

Core earnings results

Reported revenue increased by $381 million, including a $217 million favorable foreign-exchange effect. On an operational basis, which excludes currency movements, revenue rose 1%; excluding Comirnaty and Paxlovid, operational growth was 5%, while launched and acquired products grew 18%.

The earnings picture depended heavily on accounting treatment. Pfizer recorded a $248 million GAAP net loss because of impairment charges, while adjusted income held at approximately $4.44 billion.

Business and product performance

Biopharma revenue increased 2% on a reported basis and 1% operationally to $14.66 billion. Pfizer CentreOne generated $373 million, up 7% reported and 5% operationally.

Within Biopharma, gains in cardiovascular and oncology products offset sharp declines in the COVID-19 portfolio. The following growth rates exclude foreign-exchange effects.

The difference between 5% operational growth excluding COVID products and 1% total operational growth shows that falling Paxlovid and Comirnaty revenue continued to mask growth elsewhere in the portfolio.

Non-cash impairments, rather than adjusted operations, drove the GAAP loss

Pfizer recorded $3.72 billion of other deductions, net, compared with $739 million a year earlier. The increase primarily reflected intangible-asset impairment charges, along with certain legal costs, partly offset by a gain from the sale of Pfizer’s former investment in ViiV Healthcare. Total non-cash intangible-asset impairments were $4.3 billion.

Profitability also faced operating pressure. Reported cost of sales increased to 27.2% of revenue from 25.8%, mainly because of an unfavorable sales mix and higher amortization of acquired inventory step-ups, including effects related to the Oxbryta impairment. Adjusted cost of sales rose to 24.3% of revenue from 23.9%.

Reported R&D expense increased 13% to $2.81 billion, driven primarily by planned spending on oncology and obesity candidates. Reported selling, informational and administrative expense was nearly unchanged at $3.41 billion, with lower spending in corporate functions largely offset by implementation costs for Pfizer’s cost realignment program.

Capital allocation and productivity initiatives

For the first six months of 2026, Pfizer invested $5.3 billion in internal R&D and approximately $170 million in business-development transactions. It also paid $4.9 billion in cash dividends, equal to $0.86 per share. These are year-to-date figures rather than second-quarter amounts.

Pfizer completed no share repurchases through August 4, 2026, and its financial guidance assumes none for the full year. The company had $3.3 billion of remaining repurchase authorization but said longer-term balance-sheet deleveraging remains a priority.

Pfizer also announced an additional $2.5 billion of anticipated productivity savings from ongoing initiatives, expected to be realized from 2027 through 2029. These savings are not an immediate offset to current implementation costs or higher R&D spending.

Pipeline and product milestones

Oncology produced several commercial and regulatory developments. The FDA expanded approvals for Padcev in muscle-invasive bladder cancer and Ibrance in HR-positive, HER2-positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Lorbrena’s seven-year CROWN trial analysis also supported its existing clinical profile, while the product’s operational revenue increased 37% during the quarter.

In obesity, Pfizer said Phase 2b results for monthly GLP-1 candidate berobenatide supported plans to begin 10 Phase 3 studies during 2026 as part of a broader program of more than 20 obesity trials. R&D spending is already reflecting increased investment in this program.

Pipeline results were not uniformly positive. The Phase 3 SigVie-002 study of sigvotatug vedotin did not produce a statistically significant overall-survival improvement in the overall study population. Pfizer is continuing to evaluate the candidate in other lung cancer and solid-tumor studies.

Other developments included positive Phase 3 results for Litfulo in nonsegmental vitiligo and FDA priority review for Talzenna plus Xtandi in HRR gene-altered metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, with regulatory action expected in the final quarter of 2026.

2026 guidance

Pfizer raised the lower end of its full-year revenue range, lifting the midpoint by $500 million to $61.5 billion. Approximately $1.5 billion of better expected non-COVID product performance was partly offset by a $1.0 billion reduction in expected COVID-19 product revenue, now projected at approximately $4 billion.

Adjusted EPS guidance remained unchanged. The range absorbs an anticipated $650 million acquired in-process R&D charge associated with the Innovent Biologics licensing agreement, which Pfizer expects to record in the third quarter with an approximately $0.10 unfavorable EPS impact.

Recent insider transactions

The supplied insider data contains one clearly identified recent sale: officer Jennifer B. D’Amico sold shares valued at $51,400 on June 9, 2026. The six-month aggregate classifies 818,894 shares across eight transactions as purchases and 2,000 shares in one transaction as sales, but the detailed records include stock awards and derivative exercises; the aggregate therefore should not be treated as equivalent to discretionary open-market buying.

Risks investors should monitor

• Continued COVID-19 contraction: Paxlovid and Comirnaty declines materially reduced total operational growth, and Pfizer lowered its full-year COVID-19 revenue expectation from approximately $5 billion to approximately $4 billion.
• Product mix and margin pressure: Reported cost of sales increased as a percentage of revenue because of unfavorable mix and acquired-inventory accounting, limiting the profit contribution from modest revenue growth.
• Pipeline execution: Higher oncology and obesity investment raises the importance of upcoming trial results. The SigVie-002 failure to improve overall survival in the full study population illustrates the clinical risk involved.
• Charges and cost-program timing: The quarter included substantial intangible-asset impairments, while the Innovent transaction will add a $650 million acquired R&D charge in the third quarter. Newly announced productivity savings are expected only from 2027 through 2029.

Summary

Pfizer’s second quarter combined modest total revenue growth with better momentum in non-COVID and recently launched or acquired products. Adjusted earnings were stable, but impairments caused a GAAP loss and product mix pressured margins. The raised revenue midpoint reflects improved expectations outside COVID-19, while future results will depend on sustaining growth in key medicines, executing the oncology and obesity pipeline, and converting longer-term productivity initiatives into lower costs.