Pfizer is expanding its cost-cutting drive to about $6.7 billion in savings, as the company works to offset the steep decline of its pandemic-era revenue.
Reporting second-quarter results on August 4, 2026, Pfizer added $1 billion in new targeted savings (through 2029) on top of a program begun in 2023, which originally aimed at $3.5 billion. The plan now also targets $1.5 billion in manufacturing savings. The company framed the cuts as “productivity enhancements from technology and simplification efforts across our commercial, R&D and enabling functions.”
The COVID cliff
The pressure traces largely to COVID-19. Revenue from the Comirnaty vaccine has cratered from $38 billion in 2022 to about $4.4 billion in 2025. Adding to the strain, five of Pfizer’s 13 cancer drugs posted lower sales in the quarter than a year earlier, and the company recently booked impairment charges of $3.8 billion (an experimental Seagen drug) and $525 million (the sickle cell drug Oxbryta).
The quarter itself
Even so, the results were steady: revenue rose about 1% to $15 billion, with non-COVID drug sales up 5%. Pfizer raised its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to $60.5–$62.5 billion and guided per-share earnings of $2.80 to $3.00. Shares rose about 1% on the news — a sign investors welcomed the tighter cost discipline as the company navigates looming patent expirations.