How Will Pfizer's Oncology Drugs Perform in Q2 Earnings?

Pfizer PFE is one of the biggest players in the oncology space — a position it strengthened with the 2023 acquisition of Seagen. The deal added four antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak — to the company’s portfolio. In first-quarter 2025, oncology contributed more than 25% to Pfizer’s total revenues, growing 7% year over year. Investors will be closely watching this segment when Pfizer reports second-quarter results on Aug. 5.

Within the oncology unit, sales of Xtandi, Lorbrena and Braftovi/Mektovi are likely to have increased during the quarter. However, sales of key medicine Ibrance are expected to have been hurt due to continued competitive pressure across markets, generic entry and the Inflation Reduction Act ("IRA") impact in the United States.

With regard to ADC products, competitive pressure in the United States is likely to have hurt sales of Adcetris, while strong demand trends must have benefited Padcev’s sales.

Our model estimates for second-quarter 2025 sales of the overall oncology segment are pegged at $4.0 billion, implying a 2% rise year over year.

Beyond oncology, Pfizer’s top line is likely to have been aided by its key in-line products like Vyndaqel and Eliquis, alongside newer additions like Nurtec. However, this growth is expected to have been offset by the U.S. Medicare Part D headwinds and the continued declining sales of its COVID-19 products.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Other large players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN and Merck MRK.

For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now account for nearly 41% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 13% in the first quarter of 2025. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounted for more than 46% of Merck’s total revenues in the first quarter of 2025.

PFE’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Pfizer have underperformed the industry year to date, as shown in the chart below.

From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 8.25 times forward earnings, lower than 15.12 for the industry and the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.86.

The bottom-line estimate for 2025 has declined from $3.08 to $3.05, while that for 2026 has gone up from $3.08 to $3.09 over the past 60 days.

Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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