Pfizer expands cost cuts, tops quarterly profit estimates even as sales fall

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 said its cost-cutting program would deliver overall net cost savings of roughly $4.5 billion by the end of 2025. On Tuesday, Pfizer said it now expects additional savings of roughly $1.2 billion, primarily in selling, informational and administrative expenses, by the end of 2027. 

That includes expected research and organization re-organization cost savings of around $500 million by the end of 2026, the company added. Those savings will be reinvested into Pfizer's product pipeline. 

Pfizer has a separate multiyear initiative to slash costs, with the first phase of the effort slated to deliver $1.5 billion in savings by the end of 2027.

The cuts aim to help the pharmaceutical giant recover from the rapid decline of its Covid business and stock price over the last few years, and appear to be paying off.

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

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