Glonghui, May 2 | J.P. Morgan Chase published a research report saying that Pfizer's core product, Paxlovid's sales performance in the first quarter was in line with expectations, and the gross margin exceeded expectations by nearly 80%, compared to the company's full-year guideline of about 70%. Although Pfizer's management has not adjusted its annual product sales and gross margin guidelines, Motong believes investors will not be surprised by Pfizer's continued growth in performance this year or adjusted guidelines. It raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast for this year and next to $2.45 and $2.57. The comparison for this year's company guidance is between $2.15 and $2.35. Currently, the bank's sales forecast for 2024 is US$60.9 billion, which is close to the upper limit range of US$58.5 billion to US$61.5 billion in the company's performance guidelines. This is mainly due to the increase in sales of the core product Paxlovid and the contribution of the acquisition of cancer drug manufacturer Seagen last year. The gross margin for the whole year also increased to 72.7%. Considering that Pfizer's stock price may fluctuate in the short term, the bank maintains a “neutral” rating, believing that it will require stronger new drug sales performance or further progress in the pipeline before the market clearly changes its current view. The target price is $30.