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Pfizer's Oncology Outlook: Key Drivers to Watch Ahead of Q3 Results
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Key Takeaways
Pfizer's oncology revenues rose 3% to $4.17 billion in Q2, or 2% operationally.
Padcev, Lorbrena and Braftovi-Mektovi may offset declines in Ibrance and Adcetris in Q3.
Pfizer is advancing PF-08634404 in nine studies, including two pivotal phase III studies.
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) is a major global player in oncology, with a diversified presence across breast, genitourinary, thoracic, gastrointestinal and hematologic cancers. Its established portfolio of marketed cancer treatments is complemented by a robust pipeline covering a range of therapeutic approaches, including small-molecule drugs, antibody-drug conjugates and immuno-oncology biologics.
Oncology sales comprise around 27% of its total revenues. In the second quarter of 2026, oncology revenues increased 3% to $4.17 billion, with 2% operational growth. Investors will be keen to know how its oncology segment performed in the third quarter when the company announces results on Nov. 3.
Pfizer’s oncology sales in the third quarter are expected to have been driven by higher sales of key drugs like Padcev, Lorbrena and the Braftovi-Mektovi combination, which should make up for declining sales of drugs like Ibrance and Adcetris. Sales of the new drug, Elrexfio, are also likely to have risen in the quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Padcev is $692 million, while that for Ibrance is $1.01 billion.
Pfizer has ventured into the oncology biosimilars space and markets six biosimilars for cancer. Its oncology biosimilars are expected to have made a significant contribution to sales growth in the third quarter of 2026, similar to the past few quarters.
Pfizer is also likely to provide updates on its key oncology candidates on the third-quarter conference call. Several oncology candidates have entered late-stage development, such as atirmociclib, sasanlimaband sigvotatug vedotin.
A key candidate in PFE’s oncology pipeline is PF-08634404, a dual PD-1/VEGF inhibitor in-licensed from Chinese biotech 3SBio in 2025. Pfizer has initiated nine studies, including two pivotal phase III studies for PF-08634404 in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer and first-line NSCLC, and additional phase II studies in small-cell lung cancer and gastroesophageal cancers. Pfizer aims to establish PF-08634404 as a potential backbone therapy across multiple tumor types. An update on PF-08634404 is expected on the third-quarter conference call.
Competition in the Oncology Space
Pfizer is one of the largest drugmakers of cancer medicines. Other large players in the oncology space are J&J (JNJ - Free Report) , AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) , Merck (MRK - Free Report) and Bristol-Myers.
Oncology accounts for nearly 29% of J&J’s total revenues. In the first half of 2026, oncology revenues increased 16.9% to $14.4 billion on an operational basis, fueled by continued momentum for Darzalex and Erleada, although weaker demand for Imbruvica partially offset these gains. J&J’s new cancer drugs, Carvykti, Tecvayli, Talvey and Rybrevant/Lazcluze, are contributing significantly to top-line growth, driven by market share gains.
For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 46% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 15% at constant exchange rate to $14.1 billion in the first half of 2026. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).
Merck’s key oncology medicines are the PD-L1 inhibitor Keytruda and the PARP inhibitor Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for more than 55% of the company’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda recorded sales of $15.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 4% year over year.
PFE’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pfizer’s stock has risen 12.5% so far this year compared with an increase of 9.8% for the industry.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its five-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, Pfizer’s shares currently trade at 9.48 forward earnings, significantly lower than 17.65 for the industry. However, PFE trades slightly above the stock’s five-year mean of 9.25.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has risen from $2.97 per share to $2.98 per share, while that for 2027 has risen from $2.94 per share to $2.95 per share over the past 60 days.
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Pfizer's Oncology Outlook: Key Drivers to Watch Ahead of Q3 Results
Key Takeaways
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) is a major global player in oncology, with a diversified presence across breast, genitourinary, thoracic, gastrointestinal and hematologic cancers. Its established portfolio of marketed cancer treatments is complemented by a robust pipeline covering a range of therapeutic approaches, including small-molecule drugs, antibody-drug conjugates and immuno-oncology biologics.
Oncology sales comprise around 27% of its total revenues. In the second quarter of 2026, oncology revenues increased 3% to $4.17 billion, with 2% operational growth. Investors will be keen to know how its oncology segment performed in the third quarter when the company announces results on Nov. 3.
Pfizer’s oncology sales in the third quarter are expected to have been driven by higher sales of key drugs like Padcev, Lorbrena and the Braftovi-Mektovi combination, which should make up for declining sales of drugs like Ibrance and Adcetris. Sales of the new drug, Elrexfio, are also likely to have risen in the quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Padcev is $692 million, while that for Ibrance is $1.01 billion.
Pfizer has ventured into the oncology biosimilars space and markets six biosimilars for cancer. Its oncology biosimilars are expected to have made a significant contribution to sales growth in the third quarter of 2026, similar to the past few quarters.
Pfizer is also likely to provide updates on its key oncology candidates on the third-quarter conference call. Several oncology candidates have entered late-stage development, such as atirmociclib, sasanlimaband sigvotatug vedotin.
A key candidate in PFE’s oncology pipeline is PF-08634404, a dual PD-1/VEGF inhibitor in-licensed from Chinese biotech 3SBio in 2025. Pfizer has initiated nine studies, including two pivotal phase III studies for PF-08634404 in first-line metastatic colorectal cancer and first-line NSCLC, and additional phase II studies in small-cell lung cancer and gastroesophageal cancers. Pfizer aims to establish PF-08634404 as a potential backbone therapy across multiple tumor types. An update on PF-08634404 is expected on the third-quarter conference call.
Competition in the Oncology Space
Pfizer is one of the largest drugmakers of cancer medicines. Other large players in the oncology space are J&J (JNJ - Free Report) , AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) , Merck (MRK - Free Report) and Bristol-Myers.
Oncology accounts for nearly 29% of J&J’s total revenues. In the first half of 2026, oncology revenues increased 16.9% to $14.4 billion on an operational basis, fueled by continued momentum for Darzalex and Erleada, although weaker demand for Imbruvica partially offset these gains. J&J’s new cancer drugs, Carvykti, Tecvayli, Talvey and Rybrevant/Lazcluze, are contributing significantly to top-line growth, driven by market share gains.
For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now comprise around 46% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 15% at constant exchange rate to $14.1 billion in the first half of 2026. AstraZeneca’s strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).
Merck’s key oncology medicines are the PD-L1 inhibitor Keytruda and the PARP inhibitor Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for more than 55% of the company’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda recorded sales of $15.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 4% year over year.
PFE’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Pfizer’s stock has risen 12.5% so far this year compared with an increase of 9.8% for the industry.
From a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its five-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, Pfizer’s shares currently trade at 9.48 forward earnings, significantly lower than 17.65 for the industry. However, PFE trades slightly above the stock’s five-year mean of 9.25.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings has risen from $2.97 per share to $2.98 per share, while that for 2027 has risen from $2.94 per share to $2.95 per share over the past 60 days.
Pfizer has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.