Pfizer increases cost reductions and exceeds quarterly profit expectations despite a decline in sales.

The Pfizer logo is seen outside the pharmaceutical company’s manufacturing plant in Newbridge, Ireland on February 10, 2025. Clodagh Kilcoyne | Reuters

Pfizer on Tuesday expanded its cost-cutting efforts and reported first-quarter profit that topped estimates, even as the company’s sales fell, largely due to dwindling Covid revenue. The company previously stated its cost-cutting program would deliver overall net cost savings of roughly $4.5 billion by the end of 2025. On Tuesday, Pfizer announced it now expects additional savings of approximately $1.2 billion, primarily in selling, informational, and administrative expenses, by the end of 2027. This includes anticipated research and organizational re-organization cost savings of around $500 million by the end of 2026, which will be reinvested into Pfizer’s product pipeline.

Pfizer has a separate multiyear initiative to further reduce costs, with the first phase of the effort set to yield $1.5 billion in savings by the end of 2027. These measures aim to assist the pharmaceutical giant in recovering from the rapid decline of its Covid business and stock price over the past few years, and preliminary results indicate that the strategy is proving effective.

Here’s what the company reported for the first quarter compared with Wall Street expectations, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 66 cents expected
• Revenue: $13.72 billion vs. $13.91 billion expected

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