Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit nearly quadrupled from a year ago when it was weighed down by restructuring charges, as revenue rose 6 percent, thanks to the addition of products from fellow drugmaker Wyeth, acquired late in 2009.

The results narrowly beat Wall Street expectations. Pfizer's stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, soared 5.5 percent on news of its earnings, to close the day's trading at $19.22 a share, up $1.00 from the prior day's trading.

Pfizer also approved a $5 billion stock buyback plan and said it was cutting spending on research and development.

On Tuesday, The New York-based company also announced that it would eliminate 1,100 jobs over the next 18 months at its Groton research-and-development facility (see related stories on Page 1).

Pfizer, the world's biggest drugmaker by revenue, said its net income was $2.89 billion, or 36 cents per share, compared with $767 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted net income was $3.77 billion, or 47 cents per share, down 1 percent from $3.83 billion a year earlier.

Numerous one-time items brought a total gain of 11 cents per share. Those include $910 million in restructuring and other costs related to integrating Wyeth, $1.18 billion in write-offs of intangible assets acquired from Wyeth, $860 million in legal costs, and a gain of about $2 billion from an IRS tax settlement related to audits covering the years 2002 through 2005.

Revenue totaled $17.56 billion, up from $16.54 billion in 2009's fourth quarter.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of 46 cents and revenue of $16.99 billion.

The maker of cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor and impotence pill Viagra reported a 3 percent increase in sales of its prescription drugs, to $15.05 billion. Sales of veterinary medicines rose 8 percent, to $976 million, while the smaller consumer health care and nutrition businesses posted larger jumps, due to the addition of those Wyeth businesses.

Pfizer bought Wyeth for $68 billion in October 2009 but only recorded its revenue for part of that quarter.

Pfizer gave its first 2011 financial forecast, saying it expects earnings per share of $2.16 to $2.26, excluding just over $1 in one-time items. It expects revenue of $66 billion to $68 billion.

Analysts forecast earnings per share of $2.30 and revenue of $66.55 billion, on average.

Pfizer reduced its prior revenue forecast for 2012 - Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug at $12.5 billion a year, loses patent protection at the end of November - to $63 billion to $65.5 billion. That's down from $65.2 billion to $67.7 billion. But because it expects to reduce 2012 research spending by $1.5 billion, to about $8.25 billion, it still expects earnings per share of $2.25 to $2.35, excluding about 65 cents worth of one-time items.

For 2012, analysts forecast a profit of $2.22 per share and revenue of $62.72 billion.

"I am pleased with our solid financial performance again this quarter and this year despite continued challenging market conditions," new CEO Ian Read said in a statement.

Read took over after Pfizer's board unexpectedly pushed out CEO Jeffrey Kindler on Dec. 6, apparently due to the poor performance of Pfizer's stock and other issues during his 4½-year tenure.

Pfizer has been stung by a series of promising experimental drugs failing in late-stage testing over the last couple of years.

U.S. revenue fell 3 percent, to $7.24 billion, while international revenue jumped 13 percent, to $10.32 billion. The international revenue was reduced by 1 percent due to unfavorable currency exchange rates.

The company said it is still on track to cut annual spending by $4 billion to $5 billion by the end of 2012, compared with 2008 levels, as it continues to shed thousands of jobs and close numerous factories and research sites since buying Wyeth. Pfizer said it met its target of more than $2 billion of those cuts in 2010.

For all of 2010, Pfizer reported a 4 percent decline in net income, to $8.26 billion, or $1.02 per share. Revenue totaled $67.81 billion, up 36 percent, thanks to $18.1 billion from sales of Wyeth products.