Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) Stock Falls 1.5% – What’s Next?

01 Oct 2026, 21:23 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) was down 1.5% on Thursday. The company traded as low as $28.08 and last traded at $28.0990. 29,620,346 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 40,696,957 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.52.

Pfizer News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Pfizer this week:

Positive Sentiment: Positive Phase 2 results for tilrekimig: Pfizer reported that its investigational atopic dermatitis treatment met its primary endpoint. Across all tested doses, significantly more patients achieved at least a 75% reduction in disease severity after 16 weeks versus placebo. The data support further development of tilrekimig and could strengthen Pfizer’s pipeline beyond its mature products. Pfizer’s Tilrekimig Phase 2 Study
Positive Sentiment: Pipeline optimism remains a potential catalyst: The positive eczema data add to investor interest in new-drug opportunities as Pfizer works to offset revenue pressure from its post-pandemic portfolio and upcoming patent losses.
Neutral Sentiment: Peer-focused trading limited a company-specific move: Pfizer was largely overshadowed by developments at Moderna and BioNTech. Moderna rose despite a Citigroup sell rating, while investors continued debating whether biotechnology pipeline potential justifies elevated valuations across the group. Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer Trading
Neutral Sentiment: Income appeal remains part of the investment case: Pfizer continues to attract attention from dividend-focused investors because of its roughly 6% yield, although higher Treasury yields make dividend stocks compete with relatively safer fixed-income alternatives. Patent-cliff risks remain central to the sustainability debate.
Negative Sentiment: Valuation and growth concerns: A recent comparison argued that Pfizer trades at a higher valuation than some large pharmaceutical peers despite having the weakest sales growth among the companies reviewed. That raises questions about whether the stock’s valuation adequately reflects its slower growth outlook. Pfizer Valuation Compared With Rivals
Negative Sentiment: Patent-expiration risk persists: Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb each face more than $22 billion in revenue exposure from drugs losing U.S. exclusivity, reinforcing concerns about future earnings, cash flow and dividend coverage. Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb Patent Cliff

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PFE. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Pfizer from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Pfizer from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Pfizer from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Pfizer from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Pfizer in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.39.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Pfizer

Pfizer Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.34.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. Pfizer had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 19.63%. The business had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Pfizer has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.800-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pfizer

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Pfizer during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,049,602,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Pfizer by 6.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,670,433 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,754,464,000 after purchasing an additional 31,412,883 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pfizer by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 48,514,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,208,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,581,757 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Pfizer in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $205,774,000. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Pfizer by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,433,890 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $533,704,000 after buying an additional 7,287,194 shares during the period. 68.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pfizer

(Get Free Report)

Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) is a global biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines and vaccines. Its research and commercial activities focus on areas including oncology, inflammation and immunology, internal medicine, hospital care and vaccines.