Pharma's Market
SPECIAL REPORT
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds .. and They're Safer 'By Far'
- Steelers' Antonio Brown Spends Super Bowl Week with Twitter Fan Turned BFF
- Investor Optimism At Highest In One Year: Survey
- Markets Get Greece Deal, So Where's the Big Rally?
- How to Get Your Name on the Bathroom Wall 4-EVER
- Indonesia Unexpectedly Cuts Rate to Seek Growth
- Kodak to Stop Making Cameras to Cut Costs
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- The Euro Still Has Room to Rise: Strategist
- Greeks Burn German Flags: Do They Have a Point?
- Victor Cruz ‘Understands’ Gisele's Super Bowl Frustrations
- Tamminen: The United States of India
- Unusual Volume: Taleo Jumps After Oracle's $1.9 Billion Offer
- Warren Buffett: Stocks Will Outperform Gold and Bonds .. and They're Safer 'By Far'
- So Now You Can’t Give Microsoft Away?
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- Groupon Needs More Disclosure: Analyst
- CEO to CEO: Taking a Job at a Startup vs. a Public Company
- Farr: Money, Jobs and Politics — We're Still in a State of Risk
- Markets Finally Get Greek Deal —So Where's the Rally?
- 'Mortgage Deal from Hell' Hurts Sound Borrowers: Bove
- Fidelity: 401(k) Balances Little Changed Over 2011
- Are Young American Workers a 'Lost Generation'?
- Westminster’s Most Successful Dog Breeds
- Greek Political Leaders Agree On Austerity Reforms
- Robo-Deal Is All About Lowering Mortgage Principal
- Fed Fines Banks $766 Million Over Mortgage Practices
- Spent Keurig K-Cups Filling Up US Landfills

RSS FEED
Pfizer's Kindler Doesn't Duck Tough Questions
Reporter
Pfizer held its shareholder meeting Thursday morning at the Peabody, the historic Memphis hotel where the ducks march through the lobby. I haven't seen the spectacle yet, but I'm told it's quite the scene. 
But it was a smattering of individual investors who were quacking at the meeting here.
One complained about Viagra commercials airing during family-viewing hours and asked Pfizer to follow Eli Lilly's lead to not put Cialis spots on at certain times. Chairman and CEO Jeff Kindler said that as a dad, he's sensitive to that, and wanted to start a dialog with the group the speaker represented.
But a couple of other folks might not have walked away from the microphone as satisfied. They wanted explanations about the declining stock [PFE
Loading...
()
] and assurances it would turn around. At its current price, one PFE exec calculated the stock is paying a 6.5 percent dividend yield. And the handful of investors I talked to before the meeting said the payout is the main reason they're still holding on.
In his opening remarks, Kindler said, "Our progress is not yet reflected in the stock price." You can see his entire prepared statement here.
Reporters weren't allowed inside the meeting. I had to watch it on a closed-circuit feed in a room 20 feet away. I was alone. Meantime, in the ballroom where the meeting was taking place, most of the chairs were empty.
My producer, Ruth, who got to peek in for a minute, counted about a hundred people. Two shareholders said the place would've been jammed if it had been held in New York, where Pfizer is based.
But I did get an exclusive interview with Kindler after he met with the shareholders and his Board and you can watch it here. (See video, above.)
Questions? Comments?










