Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla is bullish about the company's near-term outlook after a flubbed attack campaign from activist investor Starboard Value earlier this month.

"We have launched an unprecedented number of new products. Right now, we are trying to make sure they are successful," Bourla told Yahoo Finance Tuesday.

The company, raised its full-year guidance by $1.5 billion and beat Wall Street estimates in its third quarter earnings Tuesday.

Pfizer now expects between $61 billion and $64 billion in revenue for the year and raised its outlook for adjusted earnings to $2.75 to $2.95 per share. It reported $17.7 billion in revenue for the third quarter, a 23% growth year over year, boosted by an increase in sales of COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid amid a new COVID surge during the quarter.

The announcement comes as Pfizer has struggled with cooling investor interest in its near-term value, with a focus on pivoting away from its COVID portfolio and creating a more diverse pool of products to create value for the company.

The stock traded up about 1% premarket on the raised guidance, but flipped by market close, trading down by 1.4% to $28.46 per share.

Some of the company's new strength comes from cancer drugs acquired in the $43 billion Seagen deal, as the company's existing blockbusters face patent expiration by the end of the decade, such as the patents for its Prevnar 13 vaccine expiring in 2026 and for cancer drug Ibrance in 2028. This has created anxiety among investors as they wait for new blockbusters to emerge.

Starboard fight

Bourla has repeatedly said the company is undervalued and believes the acquisitions, plus internal pipeline candidates, are enough to bolster the company's future.

It's why the recent pressure from activist investor Starboard Value created intense interest, with many speculating that there isn't much Starboard can do to alter the outlook for the company. Starboard said that management needed to be held accountable for a lack of shareholder value.

Others have pointed to other Big Pharma companies in the past, such as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY), that have gone through similar lows or lulls as they build up or reconfigure their pipelines — meaning patience is required with respect to Pfizer's near-term value.

Bourla said during the earnings call Tuesday that he is open to working with all shareholders to increase the company's value and offered a sharp retort to the activist investor's previous comments.

"We plan to engage with shareholders, including Starboard, and consider any good ideas that create long-term shareholder value," he said. "I don't think the statement 'something needs to change' is really pragmatic because it's coming 15 months late."