Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford downgraded Pfizer (PFE) to Hold citing a lack of positive catalysts. The analyst says the drivers for his upgrade to Buy have either played out or have not materialized, namely an inversion or GEP unit separation. To reflect the infusion business disposal and weaker Ibrance trends, Holford cut his mid-term earnings estimates for Pfizer by up to 7% and cut his price target for the shares to $36 from $39. The stock closed yesterday down 6c to $33.07. The analyst also sees increased risk of a major acquisition occurring over the next 12 months. In the global pharma space, Holford lists AbbVie (ABBV), Eli Lilly (LLY), Novartis (NVS) and AstraZeneca (AZN) as his top picks.

Bullish option flow detected in Pfizer with 50,393 calls trading, 2x expected, and implied vol increasing over 2 points to 28.83%. Sep-24 27.5 calls and Mar-25 42.5 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 27,600 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.21. Earnings are expected on May 1st.

AbbVie announced positive topline results from LEVEL UP, an open-label, efficacy assessor-blinded head-to-head Phase 3b/4 study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib versus dupilumab in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who had an inadequate response to systemic therapy or when use of those therapies was inadvisable. In the LEVEL UP study, upadacitinib showed superior efficacy versus dupilumab in the primary endpoint, demonstrating that a significantly higher proportion of patients simultaneously achieved both a 90% or greater reduction in Eczema Area and Severity Index and a Worst Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale of 0 or 1 at Week 16.

Consensus $4.56. Backs FY24 revenue view up low double-digit to low teens percentage, consensus $50.95B. Sees FY24 core tax rate 18%-22%.

TD Cowen analyst Yaron Werber raised the firm's price target on BeiGene (BGNE) to $236 from $235 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm updated its model to reflect lower collaborative revenue given termination of Novartis (NVS) agreement for tisle in Sep 2023.

Bearish flow noted in AstraZeneca with 3,362 puts trading, or 1.7x expected. Most active are 4/26 weekly 70 puts and May-24 70 calls, with total volume in those strikes near 3,600 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 1.72, while ATM IV is up nearly 2 points on the day. Earnings are expected on April 25th.