We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
ABBV Stock Up 5% on Robust Q1 Performance: Time to Buy, Sell or Hold?
Read MoreHide Full Article
Key Takeaways
ABBV topped Q1 earnings and sales estimates, then lifted 2026 EPS guidance to $14.08-$14.28.
ABBV expects Skyrizi and Rinvoq to deliver more than $31 billion in 2026 sales, up more than 20%.
ABBV sees about 10% 2026 revenue growth, led by immunology and neuroscience, despite Humira erosion.
AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) stock has risen around 5% since it announced robust first-quarter 2026 results on April 29. It beat estimates for both earnings and sales and the guidance for 2026 revenues and earnings was also raised. Earnings rose 7.7% year over year while revenues rose 10.3% on an operational basis. Key drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq both beat estimates in the quarter.
The company raised its EPS guidance for the full year from a range of $13.96-$14.16 to $14.08-$14.28. Total revenue guidance was raised from $67 billion to $67.3 billion in 2026.
However, a single quarter’s results are not so important for long-term investors, and the focus should rather be on the company’s strong fundamentals. Let’s understand the company’s strengths and weaknesses to better analyze how to play AbbVie stock in the post-earnings scenario.
ABBV’s Successful Immunology Drugs — Skyrizi and Rinvoq
Sales of AbbVie's blockbuster drug, Humira, are declining due to loss of exclusivity (LOE) and biosimilar erosion. However, AbbVie has successfully navigated the LOE of Humira, a drug that 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 $6.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting strong demand for all approved indications. In 2026, AbbVie expects combined Skyrizi and Rinvoq sales of more than $31 billion. Combined, Skyrizi and Rinvoq are expected to deliver more than 20% growth in 2026.
Strong immunology market growth, market share gains and momentum from new indications, as well as the potential for five new indications for Rinvoq over the next few years, are expected to drive the drug’s growth. Rinvoq could be approved for two indications — vitiligo and alopecia areata in 2026/early 2027. In addition, phase III data with Rinvoq in hidradenitis suppurativa and systemic lupus erythematosus are expected in 2026. AbbVie believes that the next wave of potential approvals in Rinvoq could add roughly $2 billion to peak-year sales for the product.
However, AbbVie expects a low single-digit pricing headwind for both Skyrizi and Rinvoq in 2026 and over the next few years. Moreover, the launch of J&J’s (JNJ - Free Report) new oral pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, Icotyde, has increased competitive pressure for Skyrizi, which can impact the product’s prescription trends. However, AbbVie seems confident that it can navigate competition from Icotyde.
ABBV’s Oncology and Neuroscience Drug Contributions
AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio is also contributing to top-line growth. Sales of its neuroscience drugs increased 24.3% to $2.88 billion in the first quarter of 2026, driven by higher sales of Botox Therapeutic, depression drug Vraylar, newer migraine drugs Ubrelvy and Qulipta and new Parkinson’s disease drug, Vyalev.
The initial international launch uptake of Vyalev, a transformative therapy for treating advanced Parkinson’s disease, approved in late 2024, has been encouraging. AbbVie expects Vyalev to achieve blockbuster status in 2026. AbbVie’s Parkinson’s disease franchise, comprising Vyalev and once-daily oral treatment tavapadon (under review in the United States; FDA decision expected in the third quarter of 2026), is viewed as a key driver of growth in neuroscience. AbbVie believes that the Parkinson’s disease franchise has a more than $5 billion peak sales potential.
AbbVie has built a substantial oncology franchise with Imbruvica and Venclexta. However, its oncology sales have slightly slowed down. Its oncology sales declined 3% to $1.63 billion in the first quarter, as higher Venclexta sales and contributions from new drugs, Elahere, Epkinly and Emrelis, were offset by an expected decline in Imbruvica sales. However, AbbVie believes the oncology pipeline is robust with several study readouts and initiations expected this year.
AbbVie’s Robust Pipeline & M&A Spree
AbbVie boasts a robust pipeline and expects important data readouts, regulatory submissions and approvals throughout 2026
Over the next couple of years, AbbVie expects new product approvals for tavapadon and pivekimab sunirine (blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm) and pivotal data readouts for key pipeline candidates, lutikizumab (hidradenitis suppurativa ), Temab-A (metastatic colorectal cancer) and etentamig (third-line-plus multiple myeloma). These pipeline programs have the potential to drive long-term growth for AbbVie, while Skyrizi and Rinvoq should boost near-term growth.
AbbVie is also evaluating Skyrizi-based combination regimens with candidates like ABBV-382 (anti-α4β7) and ABBV-701 (anti-TL1A) to create best-in-class, durable remission therapies in IBD.
AbbVie has been on an acquisition spree over the past couple of years to bolster the early-stage pipeline that should drive long-term growth. It is signing several M&A deals in the immunology space, its core area, while also signing some early-stage deals in oncology and neuroscience.
On the first-quarter conference call, CEO Robert Michael said the company still has significant financial capacity to pursue both early and late-stage opportunities.
Sales of Humira are declining due to biosimilar erosion. The launch of Humira biosimilars in the United States in 2023 significantly eroded the drug’s sales in 2024 and 2025. Humira sales declined around 50% in 2025. Humira sales are expected to continue to decline in 2026 as more plans exclude branded Humira and move to exclusive biosimilar contracts.
AbbVie has been seeing soft sales of its Aesthetics unit for the past couple of years. Continued macro challenges and economic headwinds are hurting Aesthetics 'sales. Global aesthetics sales are projected to be $5 billion in 2026, flat from 2025 levels, as moderate growth in Botox Cosmetic is likely to be offset by continued decline in Juvederm sales due to continued headwinds in key dermal filler markets. In line with this trend, Botox Cosmetic sales rose 17% while Juvederm sales declined 2.9% in the first quarter.
Approval of a key new toxin, trenibotE, a fast-acting short-duration toxin, is delayed in the United States, with the FDA issuing a complete response letter to its regulatory filing due to manufacturing concerns.
ABBV Stock Price, Valuation and Estimate Revision
ABBV stock has risen 5.4% in the past year compared with an appreciation of 13.9% for the industry.
ABBV Stock Outperforms Industry
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is reasonably priced. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 13.83 forward earnings, lower than 16.95 for the industry. However, the stock is trading exactly at its five-year mean of 13.83. The stock is cheaper than other large drugmakers like AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) , Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) and J&J.
ABBV Stock Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Earnings estimates for 2026 have risen from $14.24 to $14.27 over the past seven days, while those for 2027 have risen from $16.17 to $16.25 over the same time frame.
ABBV Estimate Movement
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stay Invested in ABBV Stock
AbbVie combats its share of headwinds, including the impact of Humira LOE, slowing oncology sales, evolving competitive dynamics for Skyrizi and continued macro woes for Aesthetics. However, the company has faced its biggest challenge — Humira’s patent cliff — quite well and looks well-positioned for continued strong growth in the years ahead.
ABBV delivered robust net sales growth in 2025, which was just the second full year following the Humira LOE in the United States. AbbVie expects another year of robust growth in 2026. It expects total revenues to rise around 10% in 2026, backed mainly by significant momentum in immunology and neuroscience products, which are demonstrating significant growth and delivering share gains in growing markets.
It expects high single-digit revenue growth through 2029, as the company 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. AbbVie also has the flexibility to invest more in R&D and continue acquiring external innovations.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
ABBV Stock Up 5% on Robust Q1 Performance: Time to Buy, Sell or Hold?
Key Takeaways
AbbVie (ABBV - Free Report) stock has risen around 5% since it announced robust first-quarter 2026 results on April 29. It beat estimates for both earnings and sales and the guidance for 2026 revenues and earnings was also raised. Earnings rose 7.7% year over year while revenues rose 10.3% on an operational basis. Key drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq both beat estimates in the quarter.
The company raised its EPS guidance for the full year from a range of $13.96-$14.16 to $14.08-$14.28. Total revenue guidance was raised from $67 billion to $67.3 billion in 2026.
However, a single quarter’s results are not so important for long-term investors, and the focus should rather be on the company’s strong fundamentals. Let’s understand the company’s strengths and weaknesses to better analyze how to play AbbVie stock in the post-earnings scenario.
ABBV’s Successful Immunology Drugs — Skyrizi and Rinvoq
Sales of AbbVie's blockbuster drug, Humira, are declining due to loss of exclusivity (LOE) and biosimilar erosion. However, AbbVie has successfully navigated the LOE of Humira, a drug that 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 $6.6 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting strong demand for all approved indications. In 2026, AbbVie expects combined Skyrizi and Rinvoq sales of more than $31 billion. Combined, Skyrizi and Rinvoq are expected to deliver more than 20% growth in 2026.
Strong immunology market growth, market share gains and momentum from new indications, as well as the potential for five new indications for Rinvoq over the next few years, are expected to drive the drug’s growth. Rinvoq could be approved for two indications — vitiligo and alopecia areata in 2026/early 2027. In addition, phase III data with Rinvoq in hidradenitis suppurativa and systemic lupus erythematosus are expected in 2026. AbbVie believes that the next wave of potential approvals in Rinvoq could add roughly $2 billion to peak-year sales for the product.
However, AbbVie expects a low single-digit pricing headwind for both Skyrizi and Rinvoq in 2026 and over the next few years. Moreover, the launch of J&J’s (JNJ - Free Report) new oral pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, Icotyde, has increased competitive pressure for Skyrizi, which can impact the product’s prescription trends. However, AbbVie seems confident that it can navigate competition from Icotyde.
ABBV’s Oncology and Neuroscience Drug Contributions
AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio is also contributing to top-line growth. Sales of its neuroscience drugs increased 24.3% to $2.88 billion in the first quarter of 2026, driven by higher sales of Botox Therapeutic, depression drug Vraylar, newer migraine drugs Ubrelvy and Qulipta and new Parkinson’s disease drug, Vyalev.
The initial international launch uptake of Vyalev, a transformative therapy for treating advanced Parkinson’s disease, approved in late 2024, has been encouraging. AbbVie expects Vyalev to achieve blockbuster status in 2026. AbbVie’s Parkinson’s disease franchise, comprising Vyalev and once-daily oral treatment tavapadon (under review in the United States; FDA decision expected in the third quarter of 2026), is viewed as a key driver of growth in neuroscience. AbbVie believes that the Parkinson’s disease franchise has a more than $5 billion peak sales potential.
AbbVie has built a substantial oncology franchise with Imbruvica and Venclexta. However, its oncology sales have slightly slowed down. Its oncology sales declined 3% to $1.63 billion in the first quarter, as higher Venclexta sales and contributions from new drugs, Elahere, Epkinly and Emrelis, were offset by an expected decline in Imbruvica sales. However, AbbVie believes the oncology pipeline is robust with several study readouts and initiations expected this year.
AbbVie’s Robust Pipeline & M&A Spree
AbbVie boasts a robust pipeline and expects important data readouts, regulatory submissions and approvals throughout 2026
Over the next couple of years, AbbVie expects new product approvals for tavapadon and pivekimab sunirine (blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm) and pivotal data readouts for key pipeline candidates, lutikizumab (hidradenitis suppurativa
), Temab-A (metastatic colorectal cancer) and etentamig (third-line-plus multiple myeloma). These pipeline programs have the potential to drive long-term growth for AbbVie, while Skyrizi and Rinvoq should boost near-term growth.
AbbVie is also evaluating Skyrizi-based combination regimens with candidates like ABBV-382 (anti-α4β7) and ABBV-701 (anti-TL1A) to create best-in-class, durable remission therapies in IBD.
AbbVie has been on an acquisition spree over the past couple of years to bolster the early-stage pipeline that should drive long-term growth. It is signing several M&A deals in the immunology space, its core area, while also signing some early-stage deals in oncology and neuroscience.
On the first-quarter conference call, CEO Robert Michael said the company still has significant financial capacity to pursue both early and late-stage opportunities.
ABBV’s Struggling Aesthetics Segment & Humira Erosion
Sales of Humira are declining due to biosimilar erosion. The launch of Humira biosimilars in the United States in 2023 significantly eroded the drug’s sales in 2024 and 2025. Humira sales declined around 50% in 2025. Humira sales are expected to continue to decline in 2026 as more plans exclude branded Humira and move to exclusive biosimilar contracts.
AbbVie has been seeing soft sales of its Aesthetics unit for the past couple of years. Continued macro challenges and economic headwinds are hurting Aesthetics 'sales. Global aesthetics sales are projected to be $5 billion in 2026, flat from 2025 levels, as moderate growth in Botox Cosmetic is likely to be offset by continued decline in Juvederm sales due to continued headwinds in key dermal filler markets. In line with this trend, Botox Cosmetic sales rose 17% while Juvederm sales declined 2.9% in the first quarter.
Approval of a key new toxin, trenibotE, a fast-acting short-duration toxin, is delayed in the United States, with the FDA issuing a complete response letter to its regulatory filing due to manufacturing concerns.
ABBV Stock Price, Valuation and Estimate Revision
ABBV stock has risen 5.4% in the past year compared with an appreciation of 13.9% for the industry.
ABBV Stock Outperforms Industry
From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is reasonably priced. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 13.83 forward earnings, lower than 16.95 for the industry. However, the stock is trading exactly at its five-year mean of 13.83. The stock is cheaper than other large drugmakers like AstraZeneca (AZN - Free Report) , Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) and J&J.
ABBV Stock Valuation
Earnings estimates for 2026 have risen from $14.24 to $14.27 over the past seven days, while those for 2027 have risen from $16.17 to $16.25 over the same time frame.
ABBV Estimate Movement
Stay Invested in ABBV Stock
AbbVie combats its share of headwinds, including the impact of Humira LOE, slowing oncology sales, evolving competitive dynamics for Skyrizi and continued macro woes for Aesthetics. However, the company has faced its biggest challenge — Humira’s patent cliff — quite well and looks well-positioned for continued strong growth in the years ahead.
ABBV delivered robust net sales growth in 2025, which was just the second full year following the Humira LOE in the United States. AbbVie expects another year of robust growth in 2026. It expects total revenues to rise around 10% in 2026, backed mainly by significant momentum in immunology and neuroscience products, which are demonstrating significant growth and delivering share gains in growing markets.
It expects high single-digit revenue growth through 2029, as the company 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. AbbVie also has the flexibility to invest more in R&D and continue acquiring external innovations.
Long-term investors can continue to retain this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock in their portfolio as the company enjoys strong fundamentals, a solid pipeline and growth outlook. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.