Celebrations may be in order for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a significant upgrade to their statutory estimates for the company. The analysts greatly increased their revenue estimates, suggesting a stark improvement in business fundamentals. The stock price has risen 5.1% to US$43.96 over the past week, suggesting investors are becoming more optimistic. Whether the upgrade is enough to drive the stock price higher is yet to be seen, however.

Following the upgrade, the current consensus from Pfizer's 18 analysts is for revenues of US$80b in 2021 which - if met - would reflect a substantial 43% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to jump 56% to US$3.44. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$72b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.94 in 2021. There has definitely been an improvement in perception recently, with the analysts substantially increasing both their earnings and revenue estimates.

View our latest analysis for Pfizer

Despite these upgrades, the analysts have not made any major changes to their price target of US$43.82, suggesting that the higher estimates are not likely to have a long term impact on what the stock is worth. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Pfizer at US$53.00 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$38.00. This shows there is still some diversity in estimates, but analysts don't appear to be totally split on the stock as though it might be a success or failure situation.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. For example, we noticed that Pfizer's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to exhibit 105% growth to the end of 2021 on an annualised basis. That is well above its historical decline of 4.7% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.6% per year. Not only are Pfizer's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analysts are also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us from these new estimates is that analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, with improved earnings power expected for this year. Fortunately, analysts also upgraded their revenue estimates, and our data indicates sales are expected to perform better than the wider market. Some investors might be disappointed to see that the price target is unchanged, but we feel that improving fundamentals are usually a positive - assuming these forecasts are met! So Pfizer could be a good candidate for more research.

Analysts are clearly in love with Pfizer at the moment, but before diving in - you should be aware that we've identified some warning flags with the business, such as a weak balance sheet. For more information, you can click through to our platform to learn more about this and the 2 other concerns we've identified .

Another thing to consider is whether management and directors have been buying or selling stock recently. We provide an overview of all open market stock trades for the last twelve months on our platform, here.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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