AGN - Despite the Naysayers AbbVie Keeps Marching On
AbbVie's (NYSE: ABBV) story in recent years is familiar to those who follow the pharmaceutical industry. The company's top-selling product (and the world's best-selling drug), Humira, helped catapult its shares upward after it split from Abbott Laboratories. However, with cheap biosimilars being introduced in Europe in late 2018, international sales of Humira are set to decline in the coming years. Further, since biosimilars will also be introduced in the U.S. market (Humira's largest market) by 2023, the future doesn't look particularly bright for this drug. These factors prompted AbbVie's shares to plunge by as much as 30% during the first half (or so) of the year.
But the company has rebounded nicely since August, and its shares are almost at the same level they were at the beginning of the year. In short, despite many predicting the demise of AbbVie, the company is still alive and well. Here's why.
AbbVie released its third-quarter earnings report on Nov. 1, and the company's results were solid. AbbVie's revenue of $8.4 billion improved 3% year over year and came in ahead of the consensus analyst estimates. The company's bottom line, too, was better than expected; its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was $2.33, slightly higher than the $2.30 Wall Street was gearing up for.