The news: Pfizer reported $17.7 billion in revenues in Q3 2024, up 31% from the same period a year ago. It also raised its full-year revenue guidance by $1.5 billion.

• Market reaction to the news was mixed, with the drugmaker’s shares falling about 1.5% as of the time of writing.

What’s driving the performance? Strong consumer demand spurred by a recent wave of COVID-19.

• Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid accounted for $2.7 billion in revenues for Q3, up from the $202 million it posted in the prior-year quarter.
• The drugmaker’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, brought in $1.4 billion, up 9% from Q3 2023.
• Excluding COVID-19 products, Pfizer’s revenues grew 14% on an operational basis, driven in part by sales of oncology drugs from Seagan—a biotech firm the drugmaker acquired for $43 billion last year. Its cancer medications booked $854 million for the quarter.
• Pfizer is also on track to deliver at least $4 billion in savings by the end of the year as part of its broader cost-cutting initiatives.

Why it matters: The crucial quarterly report comes amid mounting pressure from activist investor Starboard Value, which took a nearly $1 billion stake in the drugmaker with the aim of improving its performance.

Starboard has called on Pfizer’s board to “hold management accountable” for what it describes as poor revenue returns on R&D and M&A investments, per a presentation from the investor.