Pfizer (PFE) fell ~5% on Tuesday as Wall Street analysts assessed mid-stage data the company posted for its obesity therapy PF-08653944 ahead of its consensus-beating Q4 2025 results, which indicated a revenue decline for the COVID-19 vaccine maker this year.
Citing topline data, the New York-based pharma giant said that its GLP-1 receptor agonist added from its recent $10B acquisition of Metsera (MTSR) generated up to ~12% weight loss in its Phase 2b VESPER-3 study.
While the efficacy level of the injectable trailed the established weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY), its safety profile also raised concerns after as many as 10 patients discontinued the ongoing trial due to adverse events.
“While the development for this program is coming along, I think the data today may leave a bit more to be desired from a competitive perspective,” Evercore ISI analyst Umer Raffat wrote with an Outperform rating on PFE.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman noted concerns remaining over “potential benefits from the placebo and study discontinuation rates into the full data.” “Pfizer’s foray into obesity leaves more questions; full data is key,” Bloomberg reported, quoting Seigerman, who rates PFE with an Outperform rating.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan’s Chris Schott added that more data are required to evaluate the viability of the company’s obesity therapy, even though its Q4 results exceeded expectations.
As for earnings, the company did beat the consensus, as its non-COVID products, such as the Prevnar family of vaccines, the RSV shot Abrysvo, and the blood thinner Eliquis, marketed with Bristol Myers (BMY), generated Q4 sales growth operationally.
However, revenue from PFE’s COVID-19 products Paxlovid and Comirnaty continued to drop, and the company’s full-year revenue outlook of $59.5B-$62.5B fell short of $61.01B in the consensus and the $62.6B recorded in 2025.
According to Seeking Alpha analyst Louis Gerard, Pfizer’s (PFE) Q4 results were mixed, as “both the top and bottom line beats were nice, but we can assess that overall revenue is still feeling the post-pandemic hangover.”
The analyst noted a $1.5B hit Pfizer (PFE) projected for 2026 from its upcoming patent cliffs and argued that the Albert Bourla-led company is entering a “transition year in 2026.”
“Though I am still pleased with the performance of Abrysvo and Eliquis, which saw sales surge by 136% and 8%, respectively. I believe that 2026 will be a digestion year before the company can return to significant growth,” Gerard wrote.