Oct 29 (Reuters) - Pfizer raised its full-year profit forecast after better-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 treatment helped it beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.
Shares of the U.S. drugmaker rose 3.4% to $29.85 in premarket trading.
Pfizer now expects annual profit to be in the range of $2.75 to $2.95 per share, compared to its prior forecast of $2.45 to $2.65.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.06 per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of 62 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Pfizer is under pressure from activist hedge fund Starboard to reverse a decline in its shares and to demonstrate concrete results of a promised turnaround.
The company has turned to deals, such as its $43 billion purchase of cancer drugmaker Seagen, as well as two separate rounds of cost-cuts that aim to save as much as $5.5 billion by 2027 to counter a sharp fall in sales of its COVID vaccine and antiviral pill Paxlovid from pandemic levels.
The hedge fund has called on Pfizer's board to hold its management accountable for the company's underperformance.