Kristin Peck

A pandemic that dealt a blow to the profits of many human health care businesses hasn’t sidetracked animal health company Zoetis from its upward trajectory this year. Driven by strong sales in the company’s companion animal portfolio, as owners are spending more time with (and adopting) pets during lockdowns, Zoetis has managed to grow profits nearly 14% over the past 12 months. The company’s stock, meanwhile, has gained roughly 26% year to date, far outpacing the S&P 500. Zoetis, spun off from Pfizer in 2013, makes vaccines, medicines, and other products for livestock and companion animals, with a roughly 50/50 split between the two businesses. Peck, a former Pfizer exec who took the helm of Zoetis in January mere weeks before the pandemic hit, was seemingly destined for a top job at the animal health company: Growing up in Connecticut, Peck had horses, dogs, cats, and birds, and her first job was at a legacy Zoetis company. Earlier this year, Zoetis launched a promising drug that has already proved a strong source of growth for the company: Simparica Trio, a combination flea, tick, and heartworm medicine for dogs, and the only such combo product currently available in the U.S. Indeed, with her company’s sales of pet products rising, Peck recently upped Zoetis’s full-year revenue forecast for 2020 to between $6.55 billion and $6.63 billion.