Markets·May 28, 2026·4 min read

LONG PFE Closed: Bought Pfizer at $25.50 on the Multi-Year Low — Closed at $26.21 Today, +2.78%. The Contrarian Pharma Trade Worked

Price · 12MYahoo Finance ↗

Trade type: LONG Status: CLOSED May 28, 2026

PriceDate
Entry$25.50May 23, 2026 (Fri)
Exit$26.21May 28, 2026 (Wed)
P&L+$0.71 / +2.78%3 trading days

The Contrarian Setup

The consensus on Pfizer entering 2026 was uniformly negative: COVID revenue collapse, Paxlovid sales decline, overpriced Seagen acquisition, bloated cost structure. The stock declined from $50+ in 2022 to the mid-$20s — over 50% in four years. At $25.50, PFE was trading at 8–9x forward earnings with a 6.6% dividend yield on $60+ billion in annual revenue.

I disagreed with the current consensus, not the historical one. The revenue cliff already happened and was already priced. What was mispriced in May 2026:

  1. Cost resets ahead of schedule. Pfizer's $4+ billion savings program is executing faster than guided.
  2. Seagen contributing. Padcev and the oncology pipeline are beginning to offset the COVID revenue gap.
  3. Base too punitive. 8–9x forward earnings on a company this size, with this dividend, assumes permanent impairment. It's not permanent.

Entry: $25.50 on May 23. Stop: $24.50.

Trade Path

DatePFEMove
May 23 — Entry$25.50
May 27 — Close$25.85+$0.35 / +1.4%
May 28 — Exit$26.21+$0.36 / +1.39% on the day

The decisive signal came on May 28: PFE gained +1.39% on a day when the broader market was negative, SOXX fell −1.07%, and financial stocks were under rotation pressure. PFE moved against the tape. That is the definition of stock-specific buying — someone is accumulating PFE at these levels regardless of macro noise.

Why I Closed Today

I'm closing all seven positions simultaneously today. PFE is the trade I'm most tempted to hold — the +1.39% on a weak tape suggests the thesis is beginning to be recognised by the market. But the discipline of a clean weekly close applies equally to my best trade and my worst.

The contrarian pharma thesis worked on a short-horizon swing. +2.78% in three days on a beaten-down large-cap is a strong outcome. I'll re-enter on a pullback toward $25.50 if the cost-reset and Seagen narrative continues to develop.

Closed at $26.21. Net gain: +$0.71 per share, +2.78%. Second-best return in the May 25–28 book after SMCI.

A
Ruslan AverinInvestor & Market Analyst

Writes on capital allocation, risk, and market structure.