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Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) shares dropped ~1% pre-market Thursday as UBS became the latest investment firm to downgrade the COVID-19 vaccine maker citing the declining pandemic impact.
The rating change follows a ~14% drop in Pfizer (PFE) shares over the past 12 months as the company’s top line sank ~6% YoY in Q3 2022 compared to a more than twofold rise in the previous year’s quarter amid headwinds to its COVID franchise.
In downgrading the stock to Neutral from Buy, UBS points to the company’s overly optimistic COVID estimates and notes that despite having “a number of shots on goal,” its pipeline is “not quite ready for prime time.”
According to the firm, the consensus estimates already reflect Pfizer’s (PFE) late-stage candidates , but it is still premature to assign estimates for the company’s earlier-stage assets.
UBS, lowering the price target on the stock to $47 from $52, also notes that measures to augment long-term growth and offset the waning impact of Pfizer’s (PFE) COVID franchise will be crucial to the future upside.
The downgrade marks the latest in a string of Street resets on Pfizer (PFE) after Bank of America and Wells Fargo also downgraded the New York-based pharma giant this month.
Read: According to Seeking Alpha contributor Deep Value Ideas Pfizer (PFE) is among the firms to offer a “recession-resistant” business with “solid long-term prospects” at an attractive valuation.