A great choice for COVID-19 gains

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC. $37 is a buy. The company (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 5.6 billion; Market cap: $207.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.1; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) saw its revenue in the first quarter of 2020 fall 8.3%, to $12.03 billion from $13.12 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because the company folded its consumer products business into a joint venture with U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline plc (New York ADR symbol GSK). Pfizer now holds 32% of that venture. However, higher demand for certain drugs as a result of COVID-19 boosted revenue in the latest quarter by $150 million. Earnings before one-time items also fell 7.7%, to $4.51 billion from $4.89 billion. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share declined 5.9%, to $0.80 from $0.85. Pfizer is now working on potential vaccines for the coronavirus with German drugmaker BioNTech (Nasdaq symbol BNTX). As part of the deal, it paid $185 million to BioNTech, which included a..