NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Pfizer are up 1.05% to $32.79 today ahead of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report before the market open tomorrow. The consensus estimate calls for Pfizer to report earnings of 53 cents a share on revenue of $12.95 billion. In the fourth quarter last year, the company posted earnings of 56 cents a share, which beat the consensus estimate of 52 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Revenue totaled $13.49 billion, surpassing estimates of $13.35 billion. In the third quarter of 2014, Pfizer posted EPS of 57 cents a share, which beat the consensus estimate of 55 cents a share. Revenue totaled $12.29 billion, bettering estimates of $12.24 billion. Exclusive Report: Jim Cramer's Best Stocks for 2015 STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. BMO Capital Markets maintained its "market perform" rating on the stock today and raised its price target to $32 from $31. The firm forecasts an FX revenue headwind of about 4% in 4Q14 and about 5% in 2015. In 2015, they forecast flat to about 3% declining revenue and EPS, with limited major pipeline updates. "Pfizer is starting to build an interesting immuno-oncology pipeline; however, much of it is in earlier stages. Additional phase-3 readouts from Xeljanz and potential approval of the QD formulation should be incrementally positive, but competition is intensifying," BMO Capital Markets said. The focus will remain on M&A to facilitate the eventual split of the company, analysts said, which remains likely, but uncertain, in their view. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates PFIZER INC as a Buy with a ratings score of A-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate PFIZER INC (PFE) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels and expanding profit margins. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: PFIZER INC has improved earnings per share by 7.7% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, PFIZER INC increased its bottom line by earning $1.65 versus $1.20 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.25 versus $1.65). The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the Pharmaceuticals industry average, but is less than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 2.8% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $2,593.00 million to $2,666.00 million. The current debt-to-equity ratio, 0.48, is low and is below the industry average, implying that there has been successful management of debt levels. To add to this, PFE has a quick ratio of 2.18, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs. The gross profit margin for PFIZER INC is currently very high, coming in at 84.33%. Regardless of PFE's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, PFE's net profit margin of 21.56% compares favorably to the industry average. You can view the full analysis from the report here: PFE Ratings Report STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more.
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