Pfizer's (PFE) first-quarter earnings unexpectedly increased year on year even as sales fell below Wall Street's estimates, while the pharmaceutical giant reiterated its full-year outlook.

Adjusted per-share earnings rose to $0.92 from $0.82 a year earlier and surpassed the consensus on FactSet of $0.67. Revenue fell 8% to $13.72 billion, below analysts' $13.92 billion estimate.

For 2025, the company continues to expect adjusted EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3 and revenue of $61 billion to $64 billion. Analysts are looking for non-GAAP EPS of $2.94 on revenue of $62.75 billion. In the previous year, adjusted EPS surged 69% to $3.11, while sales rose 7% to $63.63 billion.

"We continue to be disciplined with our operational expense management, progressing multiple cost improvement programs as we remain focused on driving long-term margin improvement over the coming years," Chief Financial Officer David Denton said in prepared remarks for an earnings conference call.

For the first quarter, revenue in the primary care division fell 21% year on year to $5.7 billion, driven by a 76% slump in Paxlovid. Comirnaty revenue jumped 60%. Paxlovid and Comirnaty are types of COVID-19 treatment.

Revenue in the specialty care business rose 4% to $3.99 billion as Vyndaqel family of transthyretin amyloidosis treatments delivered a 31% surge amid strong demand. Oncology sales increased 6% to $3.76 billion.

Pfizer expects to deliver an additional $1.2 billion in net savings by the end of 2027. The company is on track to achieve its cumulative net savings target of at least $4.5 billion by the end of this year, Denton said.

"In addition, we have identified additional opportunities to drive improvements in productivity and operational efficiency in our (research and development) organization through enhanced digital enablement and automation," according to the CFO. "We expect approximately $500 million in savings associated with these efforts to be realized by the end of 2026 with the savings re-invested in R&D programs."