Rising sales of COVID-19 treatments helped push Pfizer to a better-than-expected third quarter and higher guidance for the year.

Demand for the pharmaceutical maker’s Paxlovid treatment, boosted by the latest COVID wave and the delivery of a U.S. national stockpile, generated $2.7 billion in sales for the drug, Pfizer said Tuesday.

The company also cited sales growth for several other drugs, with total revenue climbing 31% to $17.7 billion in the recently ended quarter. Adjusted earnings came to $1.06 per share.

Analysts expect third-quarter earnings of 61 cents per share on revenue of $14.92 billion, according to FactSet.

Pfizer shares rose in early trading.

The drugmaker said it delivered one million courses of Paxlovid to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile in the third quarter. Pfizer also saw sales of its anti-Covid vaccine Comirnaty increase by 9%, to $1.4 billion.

Pfizer also said Tuesday it generated $854 million in revenue from products related to drugmaker Seagen, which it acquired late last year.

The company faced criticism this month from activist investor Starboard Value, which questioned Pfizer’s returns following a series of recent acquisitions it made after receiving a sales windfall from its vaccine and its treatment during the pandemic.

Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith said in a recent letter to Pfizer’s board that Starboard plans to work constructively with the board and management “to create value for the benefit of all shareholders.

In total, Pfizer’s profit rose to $4.47 billion in the third quarter. That compares with a loss of $2.38 billion in the year-ago quarter, when Pfizer had higher expenses and had no sales of Paxlovid in the U.S. as the treatment shifted from mass purchases from government to the commercial market.

Pfizer said Tuesday that it now expects its adjusted earnings to be between $2.75 and $2.95 per share for 2024. That amounts to an increase of 30 cents at the midpoint from a forecast made by the company in July.

For the full year, analysts expect earnings of $2.66 per share, according to FactSet.

Shares of New York-based Pfizer Inc. rose 14 cents to $29 on Tuesday.