News Summary: Lower sales hurt Pfizer's 4Q net
News Summary: Drugmaker Pfizer's 4Q net plunges on charges, sales decline, but it beats views
THE RESULTS: Pfizer beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter expectations for revenue and adjusted earnings per share, reporting $13.56 billion and 56 cents per share. Net income fell 59 percent to $2.57 billion.
THE PRESSURES: Generic competition continues to erode sales of drugs that once brought in billions, with another $3 billion in revenue losses expected in 2014. Income from partnerships is falling as a couple wind down. Unfavorable currency exchange rates add to that.
THE FUTURE: Key testing data due this year on experimental breast cancer and other drugs, plus other advances in Pfizer's pipeline, could boost share prices.
