Pfizer to Cut Research, Shut Plants in Savings Effort

[Joanne98]

Source: Bloombergs

Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, said it plans to lower costs by closing plants and reducing research spending by as much as $3 billion, as the company decreased its sales forecast for 2012.

Research and development spending will be $6.5 billion to $7 billion in 2012, the New York-based company said in a statement today. Pfizer said it plans to buy back as much as $5 billion in shares next year and reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analyst estimates by 1 cent. Next year’s sales will be as much as $6.77 billion, compared with a previous forecast of as much as $6.85 billion, the company said.

This is the first earnings reported by Chief Executive Officer Ian Read, who replaced Jeffrey Kindler in December. Read is counting on products from the $68 billion Wyeth acquisition in 2009 to overcome sales lost to generic copies of Lipitor, the world’s best-selling drug. Lipitor’s patent ended in Canada and Spain and it will lose protection in the U.S. in November.

“The key messages are more buybacks, less R&D,” said Tony Butler, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, in a telephone interview. “This is all good. You could argue that the money has not been spent terribly well.”



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-01/pfizer-fourth-quarter-net-topss-analyst-estimates-shares-fall-on-outlook.html

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There's such a disconnect between the business and political news. The pols keep saying that giving tax cuts to businesses will create jobs while at the exact same time the businesses are saying they're going to give all their extra money to shareholders.

There's STILL TIME to stop the corporate tax cuts since we OBVIOUSLY are going to get NOTHING for them!

Why throw money down a rathole?

[liberal N proud]

1. Business used to be about making money

Now they will do what ever it takes to prop up the share holder.

A company will sell all of its assets if it must to provide its top share holders with a dividend.

[bongbong]

2. Just an excuse

Most companies just give lip-service, with a smidgen of reality, to maximizing shareholder price.

What they really want to do is give huge bonuses to the Inner Circle, then prop up the stock price until the Inner Circle cashes out their millions of shares, then (best case scenario that the Inner Circle dreams about) bankrupt the company so the average shareholder gets it in the nads. The reason the Inner Circle dreams about that last part is that it allows them to swoop in, pay pennies on the dollar for the assets like buildings & patents, and then restart the company under a different name.

[dd2003]

3. really wish

a drug maker would be in business to create new drugs to help people but that clearly is 1900 thinking

[cutlassmama]

4. Clearly. Now it's "let them die quickly" so there's no need to invent

new drugs to help people.

[OhioChick]

7. +1000 n/t

[Joanne98]

6. Sad isn't it.

[KamaAina]

5. Oh noes!!1! Get ready for the Great Viagra Shortage of 2011!!

:scared:

[arikara]

8. Most of the money spent on research nowadays

just goes to market research. Maybe we'll be inundated with a few less pill ads all over the place. Anyhow with the way they test the drugs now I wouldn't ever take anything that comes out new for many years to come.

[Thor_MN]

9. Giving money to business (stimulating supply) will never work

Why would a business increase production of things they are having trouble selling? OTOH, stimulate demand (give money to people) and supply will take care of itself.