Demand for the company's Covid-19 vaccine is dwindling
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is down 0.8% to trade at $43.22, despite reporting better-than-anticipated fourth-quarter earnings of $1.14 per share, in addition to record revenue of $100.3 billion in 2022. However, quarterly revenue missed the mark, and the company projected a disappointing $63 to $71 billion in 2023 sales, as demand for its Covid-19 vaccine and treatment drop, and governments cut orders as they work through their inventories.
Options traders are already chiming in on these results, with 26,000 calls and 16,000 puts across the tape so far, or triple the average intraday volume. The most popular contract by far is the 2/3 45-strike call, followed by the 44 call in that same weekly series.
Today's call bias is not in line with sentiment of late, however. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.24, which ranks higher than all readings from the last 12 months, indicating short-term options traders have rarely been more put biased.
The equity has been tumbling lower since the $55 level rejected a December rally off its 2022 low of $41.45. Pfizer stock is now trading at its lowest level since October, while sitting firmly below the 20-day moving average. Longer term, PFE is off 17.3% year-over-year.