Pfizer reported a jump in third-quarter profits on Tuesday due in part to lower tax payments but trimmed its sales forecast because of the strong US dollar. The pharmaceutical giant reported net income of $4.1 billion, up 44.8 percent from the year-ago period, after paying $661 million less in taxes following US tax cuts.
Revenues rose one percent to $13.3 billion. Pfizer pointed to big gains in sales of a handful of key brands, including the blood thinner Eliquis, the breast cancer drug Ibrance and the vaccine Prevnar.
These gains helped to offset the hit from patent expirations of sexual dysfunction drug Viagra and some other medications. Pfizer confirmed several key financial projections but lowered the highpoint of its annual revenue range from $53 to $55 billion to $53 to $53.7 billion. The company cited shortages in supply of Hospira injectables as well as strengthening of the dollar as the reason for the shift.