Same Price Target, Opposite Calls: Pfizer Analysts Split After Raised Guidance
Published on 11/07/2026 at 05:44 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Two research houses landed on an identical $33 price target for Pfizer this week and still walked away with opposite recommendations. DZ Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold, according to media reports, while Guggenheim lifted its target from $31 to $33 and kept its Buy rating. The divergence came just days after the drugmaker published third-quarter 2026 results and raised its full-year outlook.
The shares slipped 1.1% in the session following the DZ Bank move.
What the quarter delivered
Pfizer reported revenue of $16.583 billion for the three months, alongside an adjusted diluted loss per share of $0.87. On a reported basis, earnings per share came in at $0.56. Management also lifted its 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $62.0 billion to $64.0 billion, and now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.95 to $3.05.
Those upgraded numbers cover both the topline and the adjusted bottom line. Whether they translate into a durable growth story is the question now dividing the analyst community. Flat overall sales and a continuing decline in COVID-related products sat alongside the brighter profit forecast — a combination that leaves the bull case resting on whether newer medicines can offset that drag.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Pfizer?
Pipeline news offers support
Pfizer has been stacking up clinical and regulatory wins in quick succession. On October 27, the company said ELREXFIO hit the primary endpoint of the Phase 3 MagnetisMM-32 trial, which evaluated the drug against physician's choice of standard therapies in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The endpoint was progression-free survival, and Pfizer intends to file the data with health authorities worldwide — a potential regulatory catalyst if those submissions go ahead and the reviews come back positive.
A day earlier, the company announced FDA approval for TALZENNA in combination with XTANDI for earlier use in metastatic prostate cancer. Progress also came on the pediatric pneumococcal vaccine front on October 24, when Phase 2 results showed immune responses against all serotypes studied. Safety and tolerability were comparable to Prevnar 20, according to the company, and the findings support the ongoing Phase 3 program.
A new finance chief takes the helm
Separately, Pfizer confirmed the appointment of Cecile Guegan as chief financial officer and executive vice president, effective November 1. The announcement was made on the same Tuesday as the quarterly release, though the decision itself predated publication of the results.
The bear case hasn't gone away
Skeptics point to the near-stagnant topline as the central problem. If falling COVID revenue keeps eating into gains elsewhere in the portfolio, the improved earnings guidance may do little to win over investors — leaving the question of sustainable growth unresolved despite the raised annual targets. Coverage of the results also flagged patent expirations and pricing pressure as longer-term concerns, risks that would bite hardest if contributions from new indications or development programs arrive later or weaker than expected.
Pfizer at a turning point? This analysis reveals what investors need to know now.
The clinical milestones, for their part, need sober framing. Their economic value will only become concrete through further successful development steps, regulatory decisions and actual demand. Anyone leaning toward the more optimistic reading has to weigh those conditions against the existing revenue headwinds.
What to watch next
As long as Pfizer delivers on its raised guidance and keeps its development programs moving, the case for a broader growth base holds together. Should revenue stagnation become entrenched while COVID sales keep sliding, the cautious verdict gains weight. The planned submission of the ELREXFIO data to regulators stands out as the nearest concrete catalyst — and together with the next round of sales figures, it will show whether the upgraded expectations are increasingly backed by operational and regulatory progress.
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