Where the money goes
Pfizer took in $62.6 billion in 2025 and kept $7.8 billion of it. The trip from one number to the other is the chart.
Where the $62.6bn came from, and where it went, straight from the filing.
In: primary care $26.8bn, specialty care $17.5bn, cancer $16.8bn, other $1.4bn.
Out:
Revenue $62.6bn less cost of sales $16.1bn = gross profit $46.5bn less research $10.4bn less selling and admin $13.8bn less write-downs, other charges and tax $14.5bn = net profit $7.8bn
The two bars in the middle are the ones people argue about. Selling and admin cost $13.8bn against $10.4bn of research - about $1.32 of selling for every $1 of research.
Two honest caveats, because that comparison gets quoted badly. The $13.8bn is one line covering sales forces, marketing, legal, finance, HR and head office - it is not all advertising. And the research bar is only what Pfizer spent inventing drugs itself; it spent another $8.8bn buying them, including the Metsera obesity deal. Counting research as just the internal number understates what goes into new medicine.
The fourth red bar is unusually fat this year. It holds about $4.9bn of amortisation, about $1.6bn of restructuring, and $4.4bn of non-cash impairment charges taken in the fourth quarter alone when Pfizer cut its forecasts on some programmes.
And the answer to the question on the frame: Pfizer's tax line for 2025 was a benefit, not a bill. It booked a $266m credit rather than paying tax on the year.
