Pfizer's Stock Price Soars After Revealing Its COVID Pill

Friday was quite a day for both biotech giant, Pfizer, and its investors. Its stock realized a 12.2% jump in premarket trading and ended the day with a nearly 11% gain.

While Pfizer’s recent release of its strong earnings and sales performance report got investors’ attention, it was news of the successful testing of Pfizer’s COVID pill that made investors jump. The reality is that news of a successful COVID pill could be a game-changer for Pfizer and just the thing it needs to pull ahead of its competition.

So, just how good were these test results? Pretty good. In trial runs with high-risk adults that were not hospitalized, the Pfizer COVID pill was effective at preventing hospitalization and death 89% of the time. These strong testing results strengthened investors’ confidence in the future of Pfizer. It also left Pfizer planning to submit the pill for FDA approval by the end of the month. While there’s no estimated timeline for how fast these pills can get to market, the FDA is expected to act fast.

As a showcase of just how volatile the biotech market is, competing companies saw a significant drop as Pfizer’s stock rose. For example, Merck saw a nearly 10% drop on Friday, despite also being in the developmental phase of a COVID pill. Additionally, BioNTech realized a 20% plunge, even with the success of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years old. Even Biotech Novavax, which is in the midst of applying for emergency approval of its COVID vaccine, saw a drop in stock of nearly 11%.

It was Moderna, however, that saw the biggest drop falling nearly 17% on Friday, following its 18% plunge on Thursday due to disappointing sales and earnings reports and an anticipated delay in its delivery of COVID vaccines.

For investors betting on Pfizer, Friday brought good news. For those still waiting to invest in the biotech giant, Pfizer, now may be the time.