Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline Friday, November 6, 2020

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC., $36.40, New York symbol PFE, is still a buy. The company is one of the world’s largest makers of prescription drugs. Its top-selling brands include Eliquis (stroke), Ibrance (breast cancer) and Prevnar (pneumonia). Pfizer has received the necessary regulatory approvals for its plan to combine its Upjohn division (generic pharmaceuticals) with Netherlands-based Mylan N.V. (Nasdaq symbol MYL). Under the terms of the deal, Pfizer will hand out shares in the combined entity—to be called Viatris Inc. (Nasdaq symbol VTRS)—to its own investors. As a group, they will own 57% of Viatris, with Mylan’s investors holding the other 43%. Pfizer expects to complete the transaction on November 16, 2020. It will announce the exact terms of the spinoff just prior to that date. The deal should benefit shareholders by letting Pfizer focus on its more-profitable branded drugs. As well, Pfizer and German drugmaker BioNTech (Nasdaq symbol BNTX) continue to make progress with their plan to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s possible U.S. regulators could…