Pfizer Q2 2026 Earnings: Beats Estimates, Raises Revenue Guidance Despite Impairment-Driven GAAP Loss
Pfizer's adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street estimates and it raised its 2026 revenue outlook, even as a large drug-impairment charge pushed it to a GAAP net loss for the quarter.
| Q2 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $0.77 | $0.69 | +11.4% |
| Revenue | $15.03B | $14.55B | +3.3% |
Key takeaways
- Adjusted profit and revenue both topped Wall Street’s forecasts, extending Pfizer’s recent streak of beating estimates on both lines.
- Despite the adjusted beat, Pfizer posted a GAAP net loss for the quarter because of a $4.3 billion non-cash write-down — mostly a $3.8 billion charge tied to a cancer-drug candidate (sigvotatug vedotin) after disappointing late-stage trial results. It’s an accounting adjustment, not a cash cost, so it doesn’t affect guidance or the dividend.
- Growth is increasingly coming from newer medicines rather than COVID products: revenue from recently launched and acquired drugs rose sharply and blood-thinner Eliquis remained a top seller, while Paxlovid sales fell about 95% and Comirnaty vaccine sales dropped roughly a third as COVID infections and demand keep declining.
- Pfizer raised the low end of its full-year 2026 revenue outlook to $60.5-$62.5 billion (from $59.5-$62.5 billion), citing roughly $1.5 billion of expected upside from non-COVID products, partly offset by a weaker COVID-treatment sales forecast.
- Full-year adjusted profit guidance was held at $2.80-$3.00 per share; that range already bakes in about a $0.10-per-share hit expected next quarter from a recently closed oncology licensing deal with Innovent Biologics.
- CEO Albert Bourla said Pfizer “had another strong quarter, delivering on our financial commitments,” pointing to momentum in the company’s obesity-drug program and continued strength in its cancer-drug portfolio.
- Looking at the trailing twelve months, Pfizer keeps about 75 cents of every revenue dollar after production costs (gross margin), but only about 15 cents after all operating expenses like R&D and sales costs — showing how much the company spends beyond manufacturing to bring drugs to market. Per-share earnings over that same period are still down roughly 5% from a year earlier, reflecting charges like this quarter’s impairment even as revenue has grown only modestly.
Q2 2026 in context
| Metric | Jun 2026 | Jun 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $15.0B | $14.7B | +2.6% |
| Net income | -$248M | $2.9B | -108.5% |
| Free cash flow | $302M | -$1.2B | +125.2% |
| Diluted EPS | -$0.04 | $0.51 | -107.8% |
| Gross margin | 72.8% | 74.2% | -1.4 pts |
| Net margin | -1.6% | 19.9% | -21.5 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Jun 2026 and the quarter ended Jun 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Pfizer Inc closed at $25.03 on Aug 3, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $25.81 on Aug 5, 2026, the first session after it — +3.1% across the report.
| Earlier report | Close before | Close after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2026 | $26.30 | $26.53 | +0.9% |
| Nov 4, 2025 | $24.66 | $24.61 | -0.2% |
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 74.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 15.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 11.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 12.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $1.31 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 1.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -5.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 8.4% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · publication (Yahoo Finance) · publication (TechTimes) · earnings call