How to trade Pfizer stock: a complete guide

Learn all about Pfizer, with information on the company’s history and share price journey, its share trading hours, and how to trade Pfizer shares with Capital.com.

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What is Pfizer?

Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical company that traces its history back to 1849, when Brooklyn cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart set up a fine chemicals business. Later that century, the company starting producing pharmaceuticals and today is known for being a giant of healthcare research and development, with innovation in medicines across cardiovascular, oncology, neuroscience and more. 

Pfizer listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 1942 under the ticker symbol PFE, when 240,000 shares of common stock were issued in a $5.9 million IPO. In more recent decades, the 1990s were a key time for share price growth, with successful drug innovations convincing investors of the company’s commercial acumen, along with key acquisitions and a heavy R&D spend. In 2020, the company’s rapid development and deployment of Covid-19 vaccines made headlines, bringing fresh visibility to the performance of the pharmaceuticals industry as a whole. 

In the 2023 fiscal year, the company’s revenue amounted to around $58.5bn.

What is Pfizer’s share price history?

Pfizer’s share price history is a long one, and began when the company was largely focused on fine chemicals. However, diversification was key for the company, as new avenues in pharmaceuticals opened up in time. Post World War II, the company’s success in mass-producing penicillin earned widespread recognition, and the following decades were marked by fresh innovations such as Terramycin, Vibramycin and Diclofenac, as well as strategic acquisitions. 

In the 1990s, Viagra and Zoloft were brought to market, to considerable commercial success. Also that decade, Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert, which brought Lipitor (atorvastatin), a highly successful cholesterol-lowering medication, into the product portfolio. A heavy investment in R&D led to ambitious global expansion plans being realised, attracting investors and boosting the share price. 

However, the early 2000s saw a change in fortunes for the company, as key patents such as Viagra expired, with the loss of exclusivity hurting general revenues and dampening the appeal to investors. Drug pipeline challenges, regulatory and legal issues, and generally challenging economic conditions post dot-com bubble and 9/11 also hit confidence. 

More recently however, the 2010s saw a turnaround in the share price story. The company’s product portfolio saw a boost with drugs such as Prevnar 13, Lyrica and Xeljanz proving successful. Strategically, emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil were a focus, and cost-cutting, a renewed R&D spend and divestitures were the order of the day. 

By the time Covid-19 arrived, the company was well placed to develop a vaccine, with a partnership with BioNTech helping deliver a product based on mRNA technology. Following successful clinical trials, regulatory approvals and a production scale-up, the drug helped boost Pfizer’s share price. However, the stock began to struggle as the 2022 demand waned, and the company failed to take advantage of a new industry focus on weight loss drugs. 

*Pfizer stock price data from Macrotrends. Correct as of 27 March 2024. Historical price data refers to pricing at the time and doesn’t take into account the effect of stock splits.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

What factors might affect the Pfizer live share price?

Pfizer’s share price can be impacted by a range of key sector-specific fundamental events. Here are a few of the main factors that traders should watch out for.  

• General financial performance/earnings reports: Pfizer's financial position, including sales performance, profitability, and margins, is a key factor that can influence its share price at any given time, with strong earnings reports liable to boost investor confidence, particularly if the performance is unexpectedly high. Conversely, there may be an outsized share price slump where results come in lower than expected. 
• Product pipeline: the condition of Pfizer’s drug pipeline is critical, with development and commercialisation of new products under close scrutiny. Success of clinical trials, regulatory approvals, and strong commercial launches can interest investors and cause an uplift in the stock price, while setbacks in drug development may have the opposite effect.
• Patent expirations: when patents expire for drug companies, the door is opened for  competition, which may erode sales and profitability. Particularly for commercial blockbusters such as Viagra, this event can have a large impact on sales, so its worth being aware of the patent expiry dates for key lines and how such expiries might impact the company’s fortunes.   
• Regulatory and legal events: there are a range of ways pharmaceutical companies can fall foul of legal proceedings, in areas such as product liability, intellectual property disputes, or regulatory compliance issues, any of which can lead to a slump in business that can make the share price less appealing. Also, companies in this industry are beholden to public health policies, pricing regulations and IP laws can impact market access, pricing strategies and profitability. 
• Management and strategic initiatives: Pfizer's corporate governance, management decisions, and strategic initiatives, such as mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, partnerships, and restructuring efforts, can influence its share price. Investor confidence in the company's leadership, strategic direction, and execution of business plans may impact stock valuation.

What are Pfizer’ stock trading hours?

Pfizer’ stock trading hours are Monday to Friday from 2:30pm to 9:00pm (UK time).

If you choose to trade CFDs, you can follow the Pfizer stock performance live in US dollars with the comprehensive Pfizer share price chart.

Monitoring the company’s activity can help you to keep an eye out for any key fundamental or technical events that may affect short-term movements in the share value.

How to trade Pfizer shares with CFDs

If you want to take a position on Pfizer shares, you have two options. First, you can buy physical shares in the company through the exchange on which it’s listed. In this case, investing in Pfizer stocks means you will own a share, or shares, in the company. This can be considered a long-term investment, as you’re hoping for the price to rise over time.

Alternatively, you can trade a derivative product such as a contract for difference (CFD) on the underlying Pfizer stock market price, and speculate on its price movements without actually owning the asset. A CFD is a financial contract, typically between a broker and a trader, where one party agrees to pay the other the difference in the value of a security, between the opening and closing of the trade.

Unlike physical share ownership, you can either hold a long position (speculating that the price will rise) or a short position (speculating that the price will fall). This is considered a short-term investment or trade, as CFDs tend to be used within shorter timeframes.

The key difference between buying physical Pfizer shares and trading through a derivative is the leverage that is employed with the latter. CFDs are typically traded on margin, which means that a trader has exposure to larger positions with a relatively small outlay. Both your profits and losses may be larger than your initial deposit, making leveraged trading risky.    You can learn how to trade shares in our comprehensive guide to shares trading.

To trade Pfizer stock CFDs with us, just sign up for a Capital.com account, and once you’re verified, you can use our advanced web platform or download our intuitive yet easy-to-use app. It’ll take just a few minutes to get started and access the world’s most-traded markets.

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Why trade Pfizer CFDs with Capital.com?

Trading CFDs with Capital.com means you’ll enjoy an intuitive, supremely easy-to-use platform, 24/7 support, fair and transparent pricing, along with award-winning education to help build your experience in the markets.* You can seamlessly integrate our smart platform with elite third-party software TradingView and MT4, and refine your strategies with our risk-free demo. 

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