AbbVie Wins Analyst Confidence with Q2 Beat, Diverse Portfolio Fuels Long-Term Growth Expectations

On Thursday, AbbVie Inc. ABBV reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.65, down 8.9% year over year, beating the consensus of $2.57.

Net revenues reached $14.46 billion, up 4.3%, beating the consensus of $14.03 billion. Sales were up 5.6% on an operational basis.

Cantor Fitzgerald writes that quality 2Q24 earnings results support a positive investment thesis and increase confidence that growth will accelerate in 2025+. This high single-digit, above-market growth in 2025+ is not fully reflected in the stock’s valuation yet.

The analyst reiterates the Overweight rating, with a price target of $200.

Truist Securities maintains the Buy rating and increases the price target from 195 to $210. The analyst sees strong performance across AbbVie’s diversified portfolio and potential for ongoing growth into the end of the decade.

Despite IRA’s impact on Humira and Imbruvica, AbbVie continues to be set up for long-term growth led by key growth drivers Skyrizi and Rinvoq and ongoing momentum for the current portfolio of products and pipeline.

Despite expectations for continued strong performance in Immunology, Goldman Sachs notes that Skyrizi and Rinvoq will maintain their growth momentum, driven by new-to-brand prescription (NBRx) trends indicating the potential for increased market share in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the significant role of mechanism-of-action switching, particularly among CVS/biosimilar patients.

This treatment pathway, which is advantageous for AbbVie, is not fully reflected in current forecasts.

AbbVie’s long-term growth outlook remains strong. Despite challenges in the aesthetics sector, management has assured that the Cerevel acquisition will close soon, possibly next week.

This development addresses a significant uncertainty and positions the company for several potential high-impact data catalysts in the second half of 2024 and into 2025.

Goldman Sachs increases the price target from $190 to $200, reiterating the Buy rating.

Needham writes that AbbVie reported a strong bounceback in the aesthetics business during the second quarter but reported some unexpected softness in the U.S. market.

AbbVie reported lower-than-expected procedure growth and made some slight downward adjustments to their aesthetics guidance due to slower-than-expected near-term growth.

Price Action: ABBV stock is up 2.08% at $185.96 at last check Friday.

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