PFE is an atypical case insofar as the acquisition of Wyeth was one of the largest mergers in history in any industry.
I have questioned PFE for years under the same reasoning…
The amount of goodwill and intangibles on the balance sheet is not a major criterion of mine in my deciding whether to buy or sell a given stock. Although an excessive amount of goodwill and intangible assets can impede future acquisitions funded with cash by making it harder to borrow money on favorable terms, interest rates are so low now that this is not much of a concern for companies generating robust cash flow from operations.
AZN—the original protagonist in this thread—is in the unenviable position of having deteriorating business prospects and an ugly balance sheet, which makes me think they will use their newly acquired cash to reduce debt or buy back shares instead of opting for a large acquisition.
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