NEW YORK, June 28, 2026, 15:03 EDT
- Pfizer Inc. NYSE:PFE added 2.6% Friday to finish at $24.29. Still, shares closed the short week down 3.7% from the June 18 close.
- The $0.43 quarterly payout totals about $9.8 billion a year on 5.70 billion shares, which is around 59% of the midpoint of Pfizer’s 2026 adjusted EPS target.
- Pfizer got an FDA label expansion for Ibrance last week, but also reported a failed lung cancer study and said it plans to bring in a new CFO.
U.S. cash stock trading was closed Sunday. The New York Stock Exchange posts regular hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, and says its next holiday for 2026 is Independence Day, observed Friday, July 3. Pfizer’s last trade was Friday’s close.
Pfizer Inc. NYSE:PFE finished Friday at $24.29, up 62.5 cents after dipping as low as $23.70 during the day. About 60 million shares changed hands. The stock had dropped for six sessions in a row, ending Thursday at $23.67.
The dividend got less notice. Pfizer set a Q3 dividend of $0.43 per share, payable Sept. 1 to shareholders on record July 24. At this pace, Pfizer pays $1.72 per share over four quarters. With 5.70 billion shares outstanding, the annual dividend cost works out to about $9.8 billion before any boost.
Pfizer expects 2026 adjusted diluted EPS between $2.80 and $3.00. Its annual dividend runs at roughly 59% of the $2.90 midpoint. That payout is a key piece of the stock’s appeal now as the company spends on cancer, obesity and other late-stage programs.
| Stock | Friday close | Friday move | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pfizer Inc. NYSE:PFE | $24.29 | up 2.6% | $139.2 bln |
| Merck & Co Inc. NYSE:MRK | $128.66 | added 2.4% | $317.8 bln |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. NYSE:BMY | $57.52 | jumped 3.8% | $117.5 bln |
| Eli Lilly and Co. NYSE:LLY | $1,208.12 | gained 7.0% | $1.08 trln |
| Johnson & Johnson NYSE:JNJ | $254.66 | rose 3.9% | $622.7 bln |
Pfizer missed out on the full large-cap peer bid Friday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) dropped 0.5%. Big pharma names Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson pushed higher. Pfizer’s move seemed more like a relief bounce after selling, not a sentiment swing.
Oncology risk is one factor. On Monday, Pfizer reported that sigvotatug vedotin, brought in through the $43 billion Seagen acquisition, failed to hit the main survival target versus chemo in a late-stage lung cancer study. Pfizer plans to keep testing the drug with Merck’s NYSE:MRK Keytruda and other pipeline candidates.
Two days later, good news hit. The U.S. FDA cleared Pfizer’s Ibrance combined with trastuzumab, with or without pertuzumab, plus endocrine therapy for first-line maintenance in HR-positive, HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. Pfizer reported its Phase 3 PATINA study cut the risk of disease progression or death by 24%.
Aamir Malik, who runs U.S. commercial ops at Pfizer, called Ibrance the “first and only CDK4/6 inhibitor” for HR-positive metastatic breast cancer regardless of HER2 status. Dana-Farber’s Otto Metzger, who led the trial, said the approval means oncologists have a “new, evidence-based option.” Pfizer
Pfizer’s Ibrance nod isn’t a sweeping reset. The company said HR-positive, HER2-positive makes up about 10% of breast cancers, and said PATINA’s overall survival data aren’t mature. The market stuck to the question of how quickly Pfizer can turn its R&D outlay into enough growth to keep its dividend safe.
Management risk is back in focus. Pfizer said CFO Dave Denton will exit Aug. 15 for a job in consumer goods. Cecile Guegan steps in as interim CFO from Aug. 16 while Pfizer looks for a permanent CFO. CEO Albert Bourla called Denton a “steady and trusted steward” and mentioned the Seagen, Biohaven and Metsera deals Denton oversaw. Pfizer
Pfizer has set July 24 as the dividend record date. The company will release its second-quarter results the morning of Aug. 4, with an analyst call set for 10:00 a.m. EDT.
