Topic: Growth Stocks

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, July 31, 2015

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC., $36.07, New York symbol PFE, rose 5% this week after reporting better-than-expected results. It also raised its revenue and earnings forecast for all of 2015. Before unusual items, the company earned $3.5 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2015, down 6.5% from $3.8 billion a year earlier. Pfizer spent $6.0 billion on share buybacks during the first half of 2015. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share fell 3.4%, to $0.56 from $0.58, though that still beat the consensus forecast of $0.52. Revenue declined 7.2%, to $11.9 billion from $12.8 billion, but that was also ahead of the consensus forecast of $11.4 billion. Without the negative impact of currency rates, revenue rose 1%. Pfizer spent $1.73 billion (or 14.6% of its revenue) on research in the latest quarter, down 1.4% from $1.76 billion (or 13.8%) a year earlier. Thanks to this spending, the company successfully launched several new drugs, including Eliquis (stroke) and Xeljanz (arthritis). These products are helping…