Source: PaxForex Premium Analytics Portal, Fundamental Insight

It's been 13 months since Pfizer announced its partnership with BioNTech to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Since then, Pfizer stock is up more than 26%. That might not seem like a bad performance until you consider that the S&P 500 Index has risen nearly 2.5 times in the same period.

But in some respects, the future of the big drugmaker looks much better now than it has in a while. Does that mean that buying the stock this month is a smart decision? 

And let us start by trying to steer you away from considering a purchase of this big pharma drug. There's a pretty good argument to be made that if a game-changing COVID-19 vaccine launch in record time doesn't result in an incredible influx of investors, then nothing at all can. That's exactly what Pfizer did, but as the charts show, it had virtually no effect on the stock price.

One of the key reasons is that no one knows how successful Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will be after 2021. It seems likely that the number of vaccinations will drop significantly after the pandemic is over, even if booster shots are needed. Remember also that Pfizer must share its profits from vaccine sales with BioNTech.

At the same time, Pfizer's current lineup has some significant questionable features. The autoimmune disease drug Xeljanx failed in a post-marketing safety study. Those taking the drug had higher rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer than those taking TNF inhibitors such as Humira and Enbrel. 

The company had originally hoped Ibrance for breast cancer would be a huge winner as an early-stage adjuvant. But after failing in the last two clinical trials last year, that's not going to happen. 

The prospects for Pfizer's other drugs also remain very dim. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed for three months a regulatory review of abrocitinib in the treatment of atopic dermatitis. And the FDA advisory committee voted overwhelmingly against recommending tanezumab in the treatment of arthritis pain. 

Before you run from Pfizer like the plague, you might want to look at the bigger (and better) picture for the company. First, Pfizer no longer has legacy drugs like Lipitor and Lyrica, which lost exclusivity after weighing its growth through the spin-off of its Upjohn division and the merger with Mylan that led to the formation of Viatris. 

With that deal behind it, Pfizer expects to deliver a 6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue and a double-digit percentage CAGR in adjusted earnings per share over the next five years. These numbers are risk-adjusted: Pfizer does not expect all of its candidates to be successful in achieving this level of growth.

More importantly, the company's growth projections do not include any potential sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. Not a dime. Pfizer and BioNTech together should easily make more than $20 billion from the vaccine alone in 2021.

Surely that would be a pretty good amount. Pfizer CFO Frank D'Amelio recently confirmed that the company is counting on annual vaccinations. Its vaccine has proven to be safe and highly effective. Pfizer should take a good competitive position by offering new versions of the vaccine that do not require storage in ultra-cold conditions.

Also, Pfizer's potential should not be neglected. The company seems to have a solid chance of getting FDA approval and European certifications for the new pneumococcal vaccine. Lorbrena received FDA approval as a first-line treatment for ALK-positive metastatic lung cancer in March. Pfizer's clinical success rate is also impacting the biopharmaceutical industry, which is a good sign for a company that is getting more approvals for its drugs. 

So should you buy Pfizer stock this month? The answer is simple - it depends on your investing style.

The reality is that Pfizer is unlikely to deliver the level of long-term growth that aggressive investors are seeking. Even with its COVID-19 vaccine and potential pipeline winners, the company is unlikely to match the highly liquid growth stocks.

However, we haven't talked about Pfizer's valuation yet. Investors will love the fact that Pfizer stock trades at just 11.5 times expected earnings. 

If you are an income investor, Pfizer will almost certainly be an attractive candidate for you. The company currently has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Of course, the yield will drop a bit because Pfizer has pre-planned a dividend cut when Viatris starts its dividend program this quarter. Even after that, however, Pfizer will remain one of the best dividend stocks on the market.

The bottom line is that Pfizer does seem like a good choice for bargain seekers, but not for investors looking for aggressive growth.

While the price is above 38.00, follow the recommendations below:

• Time frame: D1
• Recommendation: long position
• Entry point: 39.00
• Take Profit 1: 41.60
• Take Profit 2: 42.10

Alternative scenario:

If the level 38.00 is broken-down, follow the recommendations below:

• Time frame: D1
• Recommendation: short position
• Entry point: 38.00 
• Take Profit 1: 37.00
• Take Profit 2: 36.50