Pfizer Is Up 15.78% This Year, but $1,000 From Five Years Ago Is Still Worth Just $704 With Dividends Reinvested
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Pfizer (NYSE:PFE | PFE Price Prediction) closed at $28.83 on Nov. 12, 2026, up 15.78% from its $24.90 close on Dec. 31, 2025. A $1,000 purchase at the Nov. 30, 2021 month-end close of $53.73 is worth $704, including reinvested dividends, a -29.6% change. On share price alone, the five-year change is -46.3%. Both numbers trace back to the rise and fall of Pfizer’s COVID business.
COVID Sales Lifted Pfizer to a 2021 Peak, Then Faded
Comirnaty and Paxlovid generated record sales in 2021 and 2022, and 2022 revenue reached $100.33 billion. The stock topped out near $60 in late 2021, but demand faded after that. In the third quarter of 2026, Paxlovid revenue fell 63%, and Comirnaty fell 29% from a year earlier.
As a result, Pfizer turned to acquisitions to rebuild growth. They included the $43 billion Seagen deal in 2023, which added cancer drugs, and the roughly $7 billion Metsera purchase in 2025, which added obesity treatments. Non-COVID products grew 7% operationally in the third quarter, led by Padcev at 55% and Eliquis at 25%. Pfizer also raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $62 billion to $64 billion.
A 2021 Stake Is Still Below Break-Even While the S&P 500 Pulls Ahead
All figures below include reinvested dividends and end at the Nov. 12, 2026 close. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) stands in for the S&P 500.
1-Year Return (Since Nov. 28, 2025)
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $1,195
- Total Return: 19.5%
- S&P 500 (same period): $1,120 (12.0%)
5-Year Return (Since Nov. 30, 2021)
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $704
- Total Return: -29.6%
- Annualized Return: -6.8%
- S&P 500 (same period): $1,777 (77.7%)
10-Year Return (Since Nov. 30, 2016)
- Initial Investment: $1,000
- Current Value: $1,498
- Total Return: 49.8%
- Annualized Return: 4.1%
- S&P 500 (same period): $4,026 (302.6%)
Reinvested dividends account for the gap between the -46.3% price change and the -29.6% total return. The payouts bought more shares as the price fell. Even so, buying near the COVID peak left the position below $1,000. Pfizer beat the S&P 500 over the past year and trailed it over five and 10 years.
Pfizer’s 5.94% Yield Faces a 2027 Patent Test
Pfizer pays $0.43 per share each quarter, or $1.72 a year, and has held that amount flat for eight straight payments. The stock yields 5.94%. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the payout in a September look at the drugmaker’s dividend. The stock trades at about 41 times trailing earnings and 10 times forward earnings. Pfizer has made no buybacks in 2026 while it pays down debt.
A $1,000 position looks stronger if newer drugs and the obesity pipeline offset U.S. exclusivity losses on Ibrance and Xtandi in 2027. Pfizer is aiming for a first berobenatide approval in 2028. The position looks weaker if those losses outpace new launches, or if Most-Favored-Nation pricing and Inflation Reduction Act rules cut U.S. sales. The U.S. accounts for about two-thirds of revenue.
Over five years, Pfizer’s dividends reduced the fall in the position’s value. The position was purchased near the stock’s peak.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
