1. Pfizer's drug pipeline is unexciting, but not empty. The company has eight molecules in final-stage testing, four of which are for new uses for existing medicines, which makes them relatively safe bets. It also has enough money to buy promising drugs or drug makers: some $22 billion in cash and equivalents.
   
   
2. The stock is unpopular. Nearly two-thirds of analysts who cover it do so with a "hold" recommendation. That means expectations are low.
   
   
3. In the short term, the company can boost profits without boosting sales. Pfizer has aggressively cut costs in recent quarters, and has spent billions to retire shares, so 2008 earnings are seen increasing a respectable 9%.
   
   
4. The stock is cheap. Based on its price/earnings ratio, Pfizer trades at a discount of 35% to the broad market and 45% to other drug makers. The dividend yield -- backed up by that aforementioned cash stockpile -- now stands at 5.5%.
   
   
5. Pfizer still spends up for research, which bodes well for future profits. Recently the company has laid off chemists and hired biologists, since living organisms, rather than chemical compounds, are expected to yield the most promising future drugs. The stock turned up in a recent stock screen I ran at SmartMoney.com. It looked for drug makers with, among other things, low prices relative to their research spending.

Jack Hough is associate editor at SmartMoney.com and author of Your Next Great Stock.