There's No Escaping Pfizer Inc.'s (NYSE:PFE) Muted Earnings

Pfizer Inc.'s (NYSE:PFE) price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 8.3x might make it look like a buy right now compared to the market in the United States, where around half of the companies have P/E ratios above 14x and even P/E's above 26x are quite common. Nonetheless, we'd need to dig a little deeper to determine if there is a rational basis for the reduced P/E.

With earnings growth that's superior to most other companies of late, Pfizer has been doing relatively well. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

See our latest analysis for Pfizer

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Want the full picture on analyst estimates for the company? Then our free report on Pfizer will help you uncover what's on the horizon.

What Are Growth Metrics Telling Us About The Low P/E?

Pfizer's P/E ratio would be typical for a company that's only expected to deliver limited growth, and importantly, perform worse than the market.

Taking a look back first, we see that the company grew earnings per share by an impressive 140% last year. The strong recent performance means it was also able to grow EPS by 138% in total over the last three years. Accordingly, shareholders would have probably welcomed those medium-term rates of earnings growth.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 14% per annum over the next three years. With the market predicted to deliver 9.6% growth per annum, that's a disappointing outcome.

With this information, we are not surprised that Pfizer is trading at a P/E lower than the market. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. Even just maintaining these prices could be difficult to achieve as the weak outlook is weighing down the shares.

The Bottom Line On Pfizer's P/E

We'd say the price-to-earnings ratio's power isn't primarily as a valuation instrument but rather to gauge current investor sentiment and future expectations.

As we suspected, our examination of Pfizer's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

There are also other vital risk factors to consider before investing and we've discovered 1 warning sign for Pfizer that you should be aware of.

If you're unsure about the strength of Pfizer's business, why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals for some other companies you may have missed.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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