Stubborn inflation, rising interest rates, and consequent market volatility have kept many investors on edge. Inflation shows no signs of slowing, despite the Fed’s aggressive monetary policy tightening.
The consumer price index increased 0.4% sequentially in September, beating the Dow Jones estimate. The headline inflation was up 8.2% on a 12-month basis, hovering near the highest levels in decades.
The surging inflation and hot employment data for September strengthen the case for the Fed announcing a fourth 75-basis-point interest rate hike in next month’s meeting. Given these circumstances, the Conference Board sees a 96% chance of a recession in the United States over the coming 12 months, which might begin before the end of 2022. Moreover, the board projects 2022 real GDP to grow 1.5% year-over-year and 2023 growth to zero percent.
Since the economic headwinds are expected to keep the stock market under pressure, overly traded stock Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Snap Inc. (SNAP) could be best avoided now, with their intermediate and long-term trends being down.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
Popular drugmaker PFE discovers, develops, manufactures, and distributes biopharmaceutical products worldwide. The pandemic made PFE one of the world’s most watched stocks, thanks to its COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.55 billion.
Although the company has recently announced some promising deals, acquisitions, and FDA approvals, the stock has declined 27.4% year-to-date, underperforming the S&P 500’s 23% decline. The stock has been underperforming the broader market, with investors pricing in the expected sales decline that the company might experience due to an anticipated slowdown in Covid vaccinations in the near term.
For the fiscal second quarter that ended June 30, 2022, PFE’s revenues increased 46.8% year-over-year to $27.74 billion. However, the company’s revenues largely leaned on sales of its Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty and its antiviral treatment Paxlovid. The Covid-19 vaccine brought in $8.80 billion in revenue in the second quarter, while sales of Paxlovid totaled $8.10 billion.
Adjusted net income attributable to PFE common shareholders rose 93.5% from the year-ago value to $11.66 billion, while adjusted EPS grew 92.5% year-over-year to $2.04.
Wall Street analysts expect PFE’s revenues to decline in the about-to-be-reported quarter, which ended September 2022. The consensus revenue estimate of $21.33 billion for the fiscal third quarter indicates an 11.5% year-over-year decline. Continue reading "2 Overly Traded Stocks to Avoid This Fall"
