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AbbVie and Pfizer: A Closer Look at Two Pharma Heavyweights
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Key Takeaways
PFE grows oncology and non-COVID revenues, while also trying to expand its pipeline through acquisitions.
ABBV drives strong growth from Skyrizi and Rinvoq while expanding oncology and neuroscience sales.
PFE faces COVID softness and upcoming LOEs, while ABBV projects steady growth with no major LOEs.
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) and AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) are both U.S. pharmaceutical giants with a strong leadership position in various therapeutic areas. For Pfizer, oncology sales comprise around 28% of its total revenues. Outside of oncology, Pfizer has a solid presence in inflammation and immunology, rare diseases and vaccines.
AbbVie has a strong presence in immunology, oncology and neuroscience areas. Other than that, AbbVie also has products for aesthetics and eye care. Its immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, have successfully helped it overcome the loss of exclusivity (LOE) of its blockbuster drug Humira. Immunology accounts for around 50% of AbbVie’s net revenues.
Both companies have promising R&D pipelines capable of delivering innovative treatments and supporting future growth. But which stock presents a better investment opportunity right now? Let’s dive into their fundamentals, growth outlook and potential challenges to make a well-informed comparison.
The Case for PFE
Pfizer is one of the largest and most successful drugmakers in oncology. The addition of Seagen in 2023 strengthened its position in oncology. Its oncology revenues have risen 7% year to date, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev.
Pfizer’s non-COVID operational revenues are improving, driven by its key in-line products like Vyndaqel, Padcev and Eliquis, new launches and newly acquired products like Nurtec and those from Seagen. Pfizer's recently launched and acquired products rose approximately 9% operationally in the nine months of 2025, with the momentum expected to continue.
Continued growth of Pfizer’s diversified portfolio of drugs, particularly oncology, should support top-line growth in 2026.
Its significant cost reduction and efforts to improve R&D productivity measures are also driving profit growth. Pfizer expects cost cuts and internal restructuring to deliver savings of $7.7 billion by the end of 2027. Pfizer’s dividend yield stands at around 7%, which is impressive.
Pfizer’s new products/late-stage pipeline candidates and newly acquired products position it strongly for operational growth in 2025 and beyond. Pfizer expects the 2025 to 2030 revenue CAGR to be approximately 6%.
Pfizer is also trying to expand its pipeline through acquisitions. It recently won a bidding war against Danish rival, Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) , related to the acquisition of obesity drug developer, Metsera. After a heated battle, with PFE and NVO raising their offer prices for Metsera back and forth, Pfizer eventually acquired Metsera, a New York-based biotech, for around $10 billion. The deal was closed in mid-November. The Metsera acquisition has brought Pfizer back into the lucrative obesity space after it scrapped the development of danuglipron, a weight-loss pill, earlier this year. The acquisition will add Metsera’s four novel clinical-stage incretin and amylin programs, which are expected to generate billions of dollars in peak sales. NVO and Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) presently dominate the obesity space.
Pfizer signed a drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration in September. It has offered to cut prescription drug prices and boost domestic investments in exchange for a three-year exemption from tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
However, Pfizer faces its share of challenges. It is seeing a softness in sales of its COVID products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid, due to lower vaccination rates and COVID infection rates.
Pfizer also expects a significant impact from the loss of patent exclusivity in the 2026-2030 period, as several of its key products, including Eliquis, Vyndaqel, Ibrance, Xeljanz and Xtandi, will face patent expirations. Pfizer expects an unfavorable impact of approximately $1 billion from the Medicare Part D redesign under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which took effect in the first quarter of 2025 and is hurting Pfizer’s revenues. Higher-priced drugs, including Eliquis, Vyndaqel, Ibrance, Xtandi and Xeljanz, are expected to be most affected by the IRA.
The Case for AbbVie
AbbVie has successfully navigated the LOE of Humira, which once generated more than 50% of its total revenues. It has accomplished this by launching two other successful new immunology medicines, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which are performing extremely well, bolstered by approvals in new indications, and should support top-line growth in the next few years.
Skyrizi and Rinvoq generated combined sales of $18.5 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Skyrizi sales are now annualizing at almost $18 billion and Rinvoq at more than $8 billion. AbbVie expects to outperform its target of combined sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq of more than $25 billion in 2025 and more than $31 billion by 2027. AbbVie recently settled patent litigation with all generic manufacturers for Rinvoq, which extended the drug’s patent exclusivity by four years to 2037.
AbbVie’s oncology and neuroscience drugs are also contributing to top-line growth. AbbVie’s oncology segment generated combined revenues of $5.0 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 2.7% year over year as higher sales of Venclexta and contributions from new drugs, Elahere and Epkinly, more than offset the decline in Imbruvica sales. Sales of its neuroscience drugs increased 20.3% to almost $7.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025, driven by higher sales of Botox Therapeutic, depression drug Vraylar and newer migraine drugs, Ubrelvy and Qulipta.
AbbVie has been on an inorganic growth track over the past couple of years to bolster its early-stage pipeline, which should drive long-term growth. Particularly, it is signing several M&A deals in the immunology space, its core area, while also entering into some early-stage alliances in oncology and neuroscience. AbbVie has executed more than 30 M&A transactions since the beginning of 2024
However, the company faces some near-term headwinds like Humira’s biosimilar erosion, increasing competitive pressure on cancer drug Imbruvica and decreasing sales of the Aesthetics unit. AbbVie’s global sales of its aesthetics portfolio declined 7.4% in the first nine months of 2025.
Continued macro challenges and low consumer sentiment, especially in the United States, with concerns about the economy and inflation weighing on discretionary spending, are hurting aesthetics sales.
How Do Estimates Compare for PFE & ABBV?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pfizer’s 2025 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year decrease of 1.1% and an increase of 1%, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has risen from $3.07 per share to $3.14 per share for 2025, while that for 2026 has decreased from $3.15 per share to $3.14 per share over the past 30 days.
PFE Estimate Movement
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AbbVie’s 2025 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 8.1% and 5.1%, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has declined from $10.81 per share to $10.64, while that for 2026 has decreased from $14.41 to $14.40 per share over the past 30 days.
ABBV Estimate Movement
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Price Performance and Valuation of PFE & ABBV
Year to date, while PFE’s stock has declined 3.0%, AbbVie’s stock has risen 30.5%. The industry has risen 15.9% in the said time frame.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pfizer looks more attractive than AbbVie from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/earnings ratio, AbbVie’s shares currently trade at 16.52 forward earnings, lower than 16.98 for the industry. However, ABBV currently trades higher than its 5-year mean of 13.40. Pfizer’s shares currently trade at 8.20 forward earnings, lower than the industry. PFE also trades below the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.46
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
AbbVie’s dividend yield is 2.8%, while Pfizer’s is 6.7%.
However, Pfizer’s upcoming LOE cliff is a major factor that tilts us in favor of AbbVie, as it has faced Humira’s patent cliff quite well and looks well-positioned for continued strong growth in the years ahead. AbbVie is returning to robust revenue growth in 2025, which is just the second year following the U.S. Humira LOE, driven by its ex-Humira platform.
Boosted by its new product launches, AbbVie expects to return to mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2025 with a high single-digit CAGR through 2029, as it has no significant LOE events for the rest of this decade. A substantial portion of this growth is expected to be driven by the robust performance of Skyrizi and Rinvoq. With no significant LOEs in this decade, AbbVie enjoys the flexibility to invest more in R&D to continue to acquire external innovation. Investors looking for companies showing steady growth and margins should choose ABBV stock over PFE.
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AbbVie and Pfizer: A Closer Look at Two Pharma Heavyweights
Key Takeaways
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) and AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) are both U.S. pharmaceutical giants with a strong leadership position in various therapeutic areas. For Pfizer, oncology sales comprise around 28% of its total revenues. Outside of oncology, Pfizer has a solid presence in inflammation and immunology, rare diseases and vaccines.
AbbVie has a strong presence in immunology, oncology and neuroscience areas. Other than that, AbbVie also has products for aesthetics and eye care. Its immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, have successfully helped it overcome the loss of exclusivity (LOE) of its blockbuster drug Humira. Immunology accounts for around 50% of AbbVie’s net revenues.
Both companies have promising R&D pipelines capable of delivering innovative treatments and supporting future growth. But which stock presents a better investment opportunity right now? Let’s dive into their fundamentals, growth outlook and potential challenges to make a well-informed comparison.
The Case for PFE
Pfizer is one of the largest and most successful drugmakers in oncology. The addition of Seagen in 2023 strengthened its position in oncology. Its oncology revenues have risen 7% year to date, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev.
Pfizer’s non-COVID operational revenues are improving, driven by its key in-line products like Vyndaqel, Padcev and Eliquis, new launches and newly acquired products like Nurtec and those from Seagen. Pfizer's recently launched and acquired products rose approximately 9% operationally in the nine months of 2025, with the momentum expected to continue.
Continued growth of Pfizer’s diversified portfolio of drugs, particularly oncology, should support top-line growth in 2026.
Its significant cost reduction and efforts to improve R&D productivity measures are also driving profit growth. Pfizer expects cost cuts and internal restructuring to deliver savings of $7.7 billion by the end of 2027. Pfizer’s dividend yield stands at around 7%, which is impressive.
Pfizer’s new products/late-stage pipeline candidates and newly acquired products position it strongly for operational growth in 2025 and beyond. Pfizer expects the 2025 to 2030 revenue CAGR to be approximately 6%.
Pfizer is also trying to expand its pipeline through acquisitions. It recently won a bidding war against Danish rival, Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) , related to the acquisition of obesity drug developer, Metsera. After a heated battle, with PFE and NVO raising their offer prices for Metsera back and forth, Pfizer eventually acquired Metsera, a New York-based biotech, for around $10 billion. The deal was closed in mid-November. The Metsera acquisition has brought Pfizer back into the lucrative obesity space after it scrapped the development of danuglipron, a weight-loss pill, earlier this year. The acquisition will add Metsera’s four novel clinical-stage incretin and amylin programs, which are expected to generate billions of dollars in peak sales. NVO and Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) presently dominate the obesity space.
Pfizer signed a drug pricing agreement with the Trump administration in September. It has offered to cut prescription drug prices and boost domestic investments in exchange for a three-year exemption from tariffs on pharmaceutical imports.
However, Pfizer faces its share of challenges. It is seeing a softness in sales of its COVID products, Comirnaty and Paxlovid, due to lower vaccination rates and COVID infection rates.
Pfizer also expects a significant impact from the loss of patent exclusivity in the 2026-2030 period, as several of its key products, including Eliquis, Vyndaqel, Ibrance, Xeljanz and Xtandi, will face patent expirations. Pfizer expects an unfavorable impact of approximately $1 billion from the Medicare Part D redesign under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which took effect in the first quarter of 2025 and is hurting Pfizer’s revenues. Higher-priced drugs, including Eliquis, Vyndaqel, Ibrance, Xtandi and Xeljanz, are expected to be most affected by the IRA.
The Case for AbbVie
AbbVie has successfully navigated the LOE of Humira, which once generated more than 50% of its total revenues. It has accomplished this by launching two other successful new immunology medicines, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, which are performing extremely well, bolstered by approvals in new indications, and should support top-line growth in the next few years.
Skyrizi and Rinvoq generated combined sales of $18.5 billion in the first nine months of 2025. Skyrizi sales are now annualizing at almost $18 billion and Rinvoq at more than $8 billion. AbbVie expects to outperform its target of combined sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq of more than $25 billion in 2025 and more than $31 billion by 2027. AbbVie recently settled patent litigation with all generic manufacturers for Rinvoq, which extended the drug’s patent exclusivity by four years to 2037.
AbbVie’s oncology and neuroscience drugs are also contributing to top-line growth. AbbVie’s oncology segment generated combined revenues of $5.0 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 2.7% year over year as higher sales of Venclexta and contributions from new drugs, Elahere and Epkinly, more than offset the decline in Imbruvica sales. Sales of its neuroscience drugs increased 20.3% to almost $7.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025, driven by higher sales of Botox Therapeutic, depression drug Vraylar and newer migraine drugs, Ubrelvy and Qulipta.
AbbVie has been on an inorganic growth track over the past couple of years to bolster its early-stage pipeline, which should drive long-term growth. Particularly, it is signing several M&A deals in the immunology space, its core area, while also entering into some early-stage alliances in oncology and neuroscience. AbbVie has executed more than 30 M&A transactions since the beginning of 2024
However, the company faces some near-term headwinds like Humira’s biosimilar erosion, increasing competitive pressure on cancer drug Imbruvica and decreasing sales of the Aesthetics unit. AbbVie’s global sales of its aesthetics portfolio declined 7.4% in the first nine months of 2025.
Continued macro challenges and low consumer sentiment, especially in the United States, with concerns about the economy and inflation weighing on discretionary spending, are hurting aesthetics sales.
How Do Estimates Compare for PFE & ABBV?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Pfizer’s 2025 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year decrease of 1.1% and an increase of 1%, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has risen from $3.07 per share to $3.14 per share for 2025, while that for 2026 has decreased from $3.15 per share to $3.14 per share over the past 30 days.
PFE Estimate Movement
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AbbVie’s 2025 sales and EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 8.1% and 5.1%, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has declined from $10.81 per share to $10.64, while that for 2026 has decreased from $14.41 to $14.40 per share over the past 30 days.
ABBV Estimate Movement
Price Performance and Valuation of PFE & ABBV
Year to date, while PFE’s stock has declined 3.0%, AbbVie’s stock has risen 30.5%. The industry has risen 15.9% in the said time frame.
Pfizer looks more attractive than AbbVie from a valuation standpoint. Going by the price/earnings ratio, AbbVie’s shares currently trade at 16.52 forward earnings, lower than 16.98 for the industry. However, ABBV currently trades higher than its 5-year mean of 13.40. Pfizer’s shares currently trade at 8.20 forward earnings, lower than the industry. PFE also trades below the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.46
AbbVie’s dividend yield is 2.8%, while Pfizer’s is 6.7%.
PFE or ABBV: Which is a Better Pick?
AbbVie and Pfizer have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each, which makes choosing one stock a difficult task. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
However, Pfizer’s upcoming LOE cliff is a major factor that tilts us in favor of AbbVie, as it has faced Humira’s patent cliff quite well and looks well-positioned for continued strong growth in the years ahead. AbbVie is returning to robust revenue growth in 2025, which is just the second year following the U.S. Humira LOE, driven by its ex-Humira platform.
Boosted by its new product launches, AbbVie expects to return to mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2025 with a high single-digit CAGR through 2029, as it has no significant LOE events for the rest of this decade. A substantial portion of this growth is expected to be driven by the robust performance of Skyrizi and Rinvoq. With no significant LOEs in this decade, AbbVie enjoys the flexibility to invest more in R&D to continue to acquire external innovation. Investors looking for companies showing steady growth and margins should choose ABBV stock over PFE.