Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is ending 2025 in better shape than it started, but investors are still debating whether the stock is a high‑yield value opportunity or a classic “value trap.”
As of Friday, December 5, 2025, Pfizer shares closed at $26.03, up 1.28% on the day and marking a third straight session of gains. The stock sits about 6% below its 52‑week high of $27.69 (hit on October 3) and roughly 24% above its April low of $20.92. [1]
At the same time, Pfizer offers an unusually rich dividend yield of about 6.6%, a fortress‑like balance sheet for a big pharma name, and a refreshed growth story built on oncology, RSV vaccines and a big new bet on obesity through the Metsera acquisition. [2]
This article walks through the latest news, earnings, pipeline moves and analyst forecasts for PFE stock as of December 6, 2025, to help you understand what the market is pricing in — and what it might still be missing. (It’s information only, not personal investment advice.)
1. Pfizer stock today: price, performance, dividend and valuation
Price & trading snapshot (Dec 5, 2025)
- Close: $26.03 (+1.28% on the day; third consecutive gain). [3]
- 52‑week range: $20.92 – $27.69. [4]
- 1‑year change: roughly +1% vs a strong broader market rally. [5]
- Market cap: about $148 billion. [6]
- Beta (5‑year): ~0.4–0.5, meaning the stock tends to move less than the overall market. [7]
Dividend: income stock credentials
- Latest quarterly dividend: $0.43 per share, paid December 1, 2025. [8]
- Annualized dividend: $1.72 per share, implying a ~6.6% yield at the current share price. [9]
- Dividend streak: Pfizer has paid well over 300 consecutive quarterly dividends (347 as of Q3 2025) and returned $7.3 billion to shareholders in cash dividends so far this year. [10]
- Payout ratio: currently about 100% of reported earnings, reflecting still‑depressed post‑COVID profits. [11]
Valuation snapshot
- Data providers differ, but:
- On a forward basis, using Pfizer’s updated 2025 adjusted EPS guidance of $3.00–$3.15, the stock trades at roughly 8–9x 2025 earnings — a discount to the broader market. [14]
For many analysts, that combination — high yield + low‑to‑mid‑single‑digit P/E — is the heart of the PFE debate: is it cheap for a reason, or cheap with upside?
2. Third‑quarter 2025: EPS beat, but vaccines drag
Pfizer’s Q3 2025 earnings (reported November 4) were broadly seen as “solid but not spectacular”:
- Revenue: $16.65 billion, down 6% year‑on‑year. [15]
- Adjusted diluted EPS:$0.87, beating consensus estimates around $0.79. [16]
- Net margin: about 15.6%, return on equity ~20%, helped by cost controls and mix. [17]
The headline numbers hide a sharp split inside the portfolio:
- Non‑COVID products grew 4% operationally, with standouts including:
- Eliquis (blood thinner): +22% revenue growth.
- Nurtec ODT for migraine: +22%.
- Vyndaqel for transthyretin amyloidosis: +7%. [18]
- COVID & vaccines remain the main drag:
- Comirnaty (COVID vaccine): sales fell 19% to about $1.15 billion.
- Paxlovid (antiviral): revenue plunged 55% to ~$1.2 billion.
- Prevnar (pneumococcal vaccines): −3% globally.
- Abrysvo (RSV vaccine): −22% overall, despite +75% ex‑US growth, as the U.S. market cooled in its third RSV season. [19]
On the earnings call, CEO Albert Bourla highlighted that U.S. COVID vaccination rates and RSV uptake remain “softer than expected,” and that Comirnaty now faces narrower CDC recommendations, limiting eligibility. [20]
Guidance raised
Despite those headwinds, management raised and narrowed full‑year 2025 EPS guidance:
- Revenue guidance: reaffirmed at $61–$64 billion.
- Adjusted EPS: raised to $3.00–$3.15 (from $2.90–$3.10 previously). [21]
The upgrade reflects:
- Stronger performance in the core non‑COVID portfolio,
- Cost‑saving programs ramping up faster than expected, and
- A slightly better effective tax rate. [22]
3. Cost‑cutting: $7.7 billion of savings to rebuild margins
Pfizer is deep into a multi‑year cost‑realignment effort designed to restore pre‑pandemic operating margins and help absorb upcoming patent expiries.
According to management and independent coverage:
- The company has lifted its overall savings target to $7.7 billion through 2027, of which about $7.2 billion are net cost savings. [23]
- Components include:
- $4.5 billion in net cost savings by the end of 2025 from an “enterprise‑wide” realignment.
- Another $1.2 billion of savings (mostly in selling, informational & administrative costs) by 2027.
- $500 million from an R&D reorganisation to be fully realised by the end of 2026, with those funds recycled into priority pipeline projects.
- About $1.5 billion from a Manufacturing Optimization Program by 2027. [24]
Q3 results show these savings already filtering through the P&L: selling and R&D expenses are down year‑on‑year even as Pfizer invests heavily in integration of Seagen and, now, Metsera. [25]
For investors, this matters because EPS growth over the next few years will likely be driven as much by cost discipline and mix as by pure top‑line growth.
4. Obesity: from danuglipron disappointment to the Metsera pivot
4.1 The 2025 obesity setback
Pfizer has spent years trying to catch up with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the massive obesity drug market. The story took a hit in April 2025:
- Pfizer scrapped development of its twice‑daily oral GLP‑1 candidate danuglipron for obesity after Phase 2 data showed elevated liver enzymes indicating potential drug‑induced liver injury.
- Analysts at RBC and others warned that the move essentially put Pfizer “back to square one” in obesity after earlier GLP‑1 failures. [26]
In August 2025, the company went further, quietly terminating another early‑stage GLP‑1 candidate, PF‑06954522, after underwhelming data and intensifying competition, effectively shutting down its internal oral GLP‑1 program. [27]
All of this happened as the obesity market exploded and the World Health Organization formally endorsed GLP‑1 drugs (like semaglutide and tirzepatide) in new obesity treatment guidelines, underscoring enormous long‑term demand but also acute supply and access challenges. [28]
4.2 Metsera: buying a second chance in weight loss
Pfizer’s answer arrived in September 2025, when it announced a deal to acquire Metsera, a clinical‑stage biotech focused on next‑generation incretin and amylin therapies for obesity and cardiometabolic disease. [29]
The deal quickly escalated into one of the year’s most dramatic pharma bidding wars:
- Pfizer first agreed to acquire Metsera for an enterprise value of about $4.9 billion, plus up to $22.50 per share in contingent value rights tied to clinical and regulatory milestones. [30]
- In late October, Novo Nordisk shocked the market with an unsolicited offer worth up to $9–10 billion, arguing Metsera was strategically important in obesity. [31]
- Pfizer responded with lawsuits accusing Novo and Metsera of an attempted “capture‑and‑kill” strategy to suppress a future obesity competitor, and matched or raised its bid multiple times. [32]
On November 13, 2025, Metsera shareholders voted in favour of Pfizer’s improved offer worth up to about $10 billion, and the acquisition officially closed the same day. [33]
Key details of the final deal and pipeline:
- Pfizer paid $65.60 in cash per share, plus a CVR of up to $20.65 per share, for an equity value of roughly $7 billion plus milestones, or about $10 billion at maximum value. [34]
- Metsera’s lead asset, MET‑097i, is a weekly and monthly injectable GLP‑1 agonist about to enter Phase 3 trials, with mid‑stage data showing up to ~14% weight loss in obesity patients. [35]
- Another key program, MET‑233i, is a monthly amylin analogue being tested alone and in combination with MET‑097i, potentially enabling more durable weight loss.
- Metsera also brings an oral GLP‑1 candidate in Phase 1 and additional preclinical hormone‑based therapies. [36]
- Pfizer expects the deal to be dilutive to earnings through 2030 as it invests heavily in late‑stage trials and launch preparations, with potential product launches from 2028–2029 onward. [37]
In short: Pfizer paid up to buy itself a credible place back in the obesity race just months after shuttering its in‑house GLP‑1 pipeline. Whether that bet pays off will be one of the defining questions for PFE’s valuation later in the decade.
5. Oncology and specialty drugs: Seagen deal starts to deliver
While COVID products shrink, Pfizer’s oncology and specialty medicines are quietly becoming the engine of its long‑term story.
5.1 Seagen acquisition and ADC growth
Pfizer closed its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen in 2023, bringing a portfolio of antibody‑drug conjugates (ADCs) such as Padcev and Adcetris into the fold. [38]
By H1 2025:
- Total revenue was $28.4 billion, up 1% year‑on‑year,
- With oncology revenue at $8.1 billion, up 9%, boosted in large part by Seagen assets. [39]
Padcev, for bladder cancer, has been the standout:
- Generated $1.59 billion in revenue in its first full year under Pfizer’s umbrella. [40]
- Sales in the first half of 2025 rose 31.6% to $967 million. [41]
- In Q3 2025, Padcev sales grew another 13% year‑on‑year to $464 million despite some quarter‑to‑quarter noise from distribution changes. [42]
Crucially, August 2025 trial data from a large study combining Padcev with Merck’s Keytruda showed the regimen significantly improved survival for patients with muscle‑invasive bladder cancer when given before and after surgery — the first regimen to show this benefit in this setting. [43]
Pfizer and Merck plan worldwide regulatory filings, and analysts see a potential addressable market roughly triple the current metastatic bladder cancer population if the indication is approved. [44]
Not everything has gone Pfizer’s way:
- On December 2, 2025, a U.S. appeals court overturned a $42 million patent verdict that Seagen had previously won against Daiichi Sankyo over the cancer drug Enhertu, ruling Seagen’s patent invalid. [45]
Financially, that specific ruling is modest, but it underscores the ongoing legal and competitive risks around ADCs even as the category becomes central to Pfizer’s growth narrative.
5.2 Beyond oncology: key growth brands
Outside of cancer and obesity, several drugs continue to underpin Pfizer’s base business:
- Eliquis (with Bristol Myers Squibb) remains Pfizer’s top seller, bringing in $7.4 billion in 2024 and growing 22% year‑on‑year in Q3 2025. [46]
- The Vyndaqel franchise for amyloidosis remains the market leader despite new competition, with strong demand but some margin pressure from IRA‑related rebates. [47]
- Migraine franchise Nurtec/Vydura continues to post double‑digit growth. [48]
A July 2025 investor note titled “Pfizer: Building the Next Oncology Empire” argued that the Seagen deal substantially strengthens Pfizer’s ability to offset patent cliffs and could offer significant upside if the ADC pipeline delivers. [49]
6. Patent cliffs and drug pricing: the biggest long‑term overhang
Even with pipeline wins, Pfizer faces a series of major patent expiries and pricing reforms that will constrain revenue and margin growth later in the decade.
6.1 Patent expiries: Eliquis leads the list
A February 2025 BioSpace analysis singled out Pfizer as one of the big pharma groups facing the toughest patent cliffs: [50]
- Prevnar (pneumococcal vaccines): U.S. loss of exclusivity expected in 2026.
- Ibrance (breast cancer) and Xtandi (prostate cancer): key protections expiring in 2027.
- Eliquis (apixaban): patent expiry forecast for April 2028, with multiple generics ready to enter once protections lapse. [51]
Eliquis is especially critical:
- It generated $7.4 billion in revenue for Pfizer in 2024, and was named among the first 10 drugs selected for Medicare price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). [52]
6.2 Medicare drug price negotiations and Eliquis
Under the IRA:
- CMS selected 10 high‑spend Part D medicines for the first round of Medicare price negotiations, including Eliquis.
- Negotiated “maximum fair prices” (MFPs) for these drugs will take effect on January 1, 2026. [53]
- For Eliquis specifically, analysis from KFF estimates a negotiated monthly Medicare price of about $231, materially below the drug’s new direct‑to‑consumer list price of $346. [54]
Government data suggest the first 10 negotiated drugs will:
- Save Medicare around $6 billion and beneficiaries about $1.5 billion in 2026 alone, with discounts ranging from 38–79% off list prices. [55]
For Pfizer, that means Eliquis revenues will come under pressure starting in 2026, even before generics hit in 2028. Additional rounds of IRA negotiations for 2027 and beyond — which already include drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy — underline the broader pricing squeeze facing the whole industry. [56]
6.3 A separate U.S. drug‑pricing pact
Layered on top of the IRA, Pfizer in late September 2025 announced a “landmark agreement” with the Trump Administration to lower many U.S. drug prices. Key elements include: [57]
- A voluntary program dubbed “America First Prescription Pricing” and a new government purchasing platform TrumpRx.gov,
- Average price cuts of around 50% — and up to 85% for some high‑volume generics — across a broad portfolio of Pfizer medicines,
- In exchange, the U.S. government temporarily suspends certain tariff measures and grants Pfizer more predictable direct‑purchase arrangements,
- Pfizer commits to investing $70 billion in U.S. R&D and manufacturing over seven years.
The deal is framed as pro‑patient and pro‑manufacturing, but from an investor standpoint it underscores a simple reality: pricing power is structurally weaker than it was pre‑COVID, and future EPS growth must come from volume, innovation and efficiency rather than price hikes.
7. Vaccines: still strategic, but facing a tougher regulatory bar
As noted, Pfizer’s vaccine business — from Comirnaty to Abrysvo and Prevnar — is in a transition phase:
- U.S. demand for COVID boosters and RSV shots has fallen faster than many models anticipated, pressuring near‑term revenue. [58]
- Ex‑U.S. markets remain more robust; for example, Abrysvo’s ex‑U.S. sales jumped 75% in Q3 even as global revenue fell 22% due to U.S. weakness. [59]
On the competitive front:
- Rival GSK has resolved a patent dispute with Pfizer over RSV vaccine technologies, reducing legal uncertainty for both Abrysvo and GSK’s Arexvy. [60]
- European regulators are reviewing expanded indications for GSK’s RSV shot, while national agencies such as Norway’s are broadening RSV immunisation recommendations — developments that may grow the overall RSV market but keep pricing competitive. [61]
At the same time, U.S. regulators are signalling stricter standards for future vaccine approvals. Reports in late 2025 indicated that the FDA is considering tighter evidence requirements for new vaccines, a move that has already weighed on dedicated vaccine makers like Moderna and Novavax and could raise the bar for future mRNA and RSV launches by Pfizer as well. [62]
For now, vaccines remain a strategic pillar — especially in international markets — but investors should expect continued volatility in quarterly sales and margins.
8. Wall Street sentiment and price targets for PFE
8.1 Consensus rating: cautious, not bearish
Recent surveys of analysts show a mixed but slightly positive stance on Pfizer stock:
- MarketBeat data (December 6, 2025) show:
- 2 “Strong Buy”, 4 “Buy”, 12 “Hold”, 1 “Sell”,
- Overall consensus: “Hold”,
- Average 12‑month price target: $28.39. [63]
- TipRanks reports a “Moderate Buy” rating from 16 analysts, with a mean target around $28.92. [64]
- TradingView aggregates 22 analysts at a similar $28.87 target and also labels the consensus “Moderate Buy.” [65]
Taken together, those targets sit roughly 9–11% above the current $26.03 share price — modest upside, but that’s before factoring in Pfizer’s ~6.6% dividend yield.
Some quantitative and technical services have turned more constructive short‑term:
- Barchart’s technical opinion currently rates PFE a “Strong Buy” based on its short‑term signal set, even as fundamental analysts stay more cautious. [66]
8.2 Forecasts for EPS and growth
On earnings:
- Sell‑side analysts, as summarized by MarketBeat, expect full‑year 2025 EPS around $2.95, broadly aligned with Pfizer’s updated guidance range. [67]
- Barchart’s consensus for the current quarter (Q4 2025) is about $0.63 per share, flat year‑on‑year. [68]
- A Yahoo‑linked analysis notes Pfizer expects a 2025–2030 revenue CAGR of around 6%, driven largely by newly launched products and acquisitions such as Seagen. [69]
Longer‑term, some third‑party forecast services are much more optimistic than Wall Street’s 12‑month targets. A July 2025 analysis published by Pocket Option, citing various external sources, suggested:
- 2025 price forecasts: range $38–$44, average around $41,
- 2030 forecasts: range $60–$75, average around $68, based on expected oncology and obesity pipeline success. [70]
Those numbers are significantly above today’s share price and assume that Pfizer’s post‑COVID reset, oncology expansion and obesity push all go well. They’re highly speculative, but they illustrate the upside scenario some long‑term bulls see if the company executes.
9. Bull vs. bear: key arguments going into 2026
9.1 The bullish case for Pfizer stock
Supporters of PFE point to several positives:
- Rich dividend income
- A 6%+ dividend yield, backed by decades of uninterrupted payments, remains a major draw for income investors, especially in a low‑beta stock. [71]
- Non‑COVID business is growing again
- Ex‑COVID brands grew 4% operationally in Q3, with strong contributions from Eliquis, Vyndaqel, Nurtec and oncology assets like Padcev. [72]
- Oncology & ADC pipeline momentum
- The Seagen deal is already driving high‑single‑digit oncology growth, and the Padcev + Keytruda combination has produced practice‑changing survival data that could expand its use into earlier‑stage bladder cancer. [73]
- Obesity optionality via Metsera
- The Metsera acquisition effectively gives Pfizer a late‑stage GLP‑1 program plus an amylin and oral GLP‑1 pipeline, positioning it for a share of a global obesity market that some estimates put at $150 billion by the early 2030s. [74]
- Cost‑savings and efficiency
- A $7.7 billion cost‑cut program can support EPS growth even in a flat revenue environment and free up cash for R&D and deleveraging. [75]
- Valuation discount
- Trading at 8–9x 2025 adjusted earnings and a multi‑decade low valuation relative to the S&P 500, Pfizer looks cheap on most traditional metrics if management can hit its growth and margin targets. [76]
9.2 The bearish case
Skeptics, including some recent commentary from outlets like The Motley Fool and StockStory, highlight several risks: [77]
- Patent cliff & IRA pressure
- Eliquis, Prevnar, Ibrance and Xtandi all face loss of exclusivity between 2026 and 2028, at the same time as IRA price caps bite, especially for Eliquis starting in 2026. [78]
- COVID and vaccine volatility
- The vaccines and COVID franchise that drove record profits in 2021–22 is now a drag, with Comirnaty and Paxlovid revenues shrinking sharply and future waves difficult to predict. [79]
- Execution risk in obesity and oncology
- Regulatory and political uncertainty
- The combination of IRA price negotiations, potential further rounds of drug pricing reform, FDA vaccine scrutiny and international pricing deals means long‑term pricing power is structurally weaker than it was a few years ago. [82]
- Balance sheet and capital allocation
- The Seagen and Metsera deals add meaningful debt and integration risk, and Pfizer has paused share buybacks to prioritise dividends, R&D and de‑leveraging. [83]
10. Key catalysts to watch after December 6, 2025
Looking beyond today’s price, several events in the next 12–24 months are likely to influence Pfizer’s share performance:
- December 16, 2025 guidance call
- Pfizer has invited investors to a December 16 webcast where management will present full‑year 2026 financial guidance and update assumptions for the Metsera acquisition, cost‑savings and the non‑COVID portfolio. [84]
- Implementation of Medicare’s negotiated prices (January 2026)
- The first round of IRA‑negotiated prices for 10 drugs, including Eliquis, goes live in January 2026, giving investors a clearer line of sight into pricing and volume impacts. [85]
- Further Padcev + Keytruda regulatory decisions and launches
- Filings based on the August 2025 bladder‑cancer trial could expand Padcev’s addressable population and entrench Pfizer’s ADC franchise if regulators agree with the survival benefit data. [86]
- Metsera pipeline milestones (Phase 3 initiation for MET‑097i)
- The start of Phase 3 trials for MET‑097i and early‑stage data updates on MET‑233i and the oral GLP‑1 will be closely watched as signs that Pfizer can convert the Metsera deal into a credible obesity franchise. [87]
- Additional cost‑saving progress and 2027 targets
- Investors will look for evidence that Pfizer is actually delivering the $7.7 billion savings plan without unduly harming R&D productivity. [88]
11. Bottom line
As of December 6, 2025, Pfizer is a classic “show‑me” stock:
- The headline numbers — high yield, low valuation, stabilising revenue — look attractive.
- The strategic moves — Seagen, Metsera, aggressive cost‑cutting — are bold, but will take years to fully prove out.
- The risks — from patent cliffs and IRA pricing to vaccine fatigue and obesity competition — are very real and well‑known.
Wall Street’s consensus “Hold” rating and mid‑$20s price targets reflect that balance: modest expected upside plus a hefty dividend, contingent on Pfizer executing across multiple fronts at once.
For anyone considering PFE, the key is to weigh that income and optionality against your own risk tolerance, time horizon and broader portfolio — ideally with input from a qualified financial adviser who understands your personal situation.
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