What happened 

Shares of Pfizer (PFE -3.85%) climbed 4.2% on Tuesday after the pharmaceutical titan released its third-quarter results and boosted its full-year revenue and profit forecasts. 

So what

Pfizer's revenue soared 134% year over year in Q3 to $24.1 billion, propelled upward by $13 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales.

"While we are proud of our third quarter financial performance, we are even more proud of what these financial results represent in terms of the positive impact we are having on human lives around the world," CEO Albert Bourla said in a press release.

A healthcare professional is administering a vaccine to a patient.

Pfizer is helping the world combat COVID-19. Image source: Getty Images.

The rest of Pfizer's business also grew at a healthy clip. The drugmaker's revenue excluding coronavirus vaccine sales increased 7% on a constant-currency basis to $11.1 billion. "Our ultimate goal is to help bring this pandemic to an end as quickly as possible, but also to apply the lessons we have learned through our work on the vaccine to all of our therapeutic areas," Bourla said.

All told, Pfizer's adjusted net income surged by 133% to $7.7 billion, or $1.34 per share. 

Now what

Better still, management raised its full-year revenue projection to a range of $81 billion to $82 billion, up from a prior forecast range of $78 billion to $80 billion. And it increased its guidance for adjusted earnings per share to between $4.13 and $4.18, up from a previously forecast range of $3.95 to $4.05.

Looking further ahead, Chief Financial Officer Frank D'Amelio presented a bullish view of the company's research and development efforts.

"We continue to make progress on advancing our internal pipeline across all therapeutic areas, while also prudently deploying our capital through partnerships and bolt-on acquisitions to gain access to cutting-edge platforms, science, and technologies that could potentially bolster our growth in the latter half of this decade," D'Amelio said.