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Key Takeaways
- AbbVie reported strong sales of its other medicines as demand for Humira fell because of competition from biosimilar drugs.
- Revenue from rheumatoid arthritis medicines Rinvoq and Skyrizi soared.
- The news sent AbbVie shares to an all-time high in intraday trading Thursday.
AbbVie (ABBV) shares traded at an all-time high Thursday as the biopharmaceutical firm posted better-than-expected revenue and boosted its guidance as demand for its other drugs offset a decline in Humira sales.
The company reported second-quarter revenue increased 4.3% year-over-year to $14.46 billion, above the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion of analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) declined 8.9% to $2.65, a tick below estimates.
Sales of its rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatments Rinvoq and Skyrizi soared 55.8% and 44.8%, respectively, bringing in a total of $4.16 billion. That helped offset the decline in Humira, which posted a drop of 29.8% to $2.81 billion. Humira sales have been dragged down by competition from several biosimilar medicines that have recently entered the market.Â
Sales rose for its drugs in Oncology (+10.5%), Aesthetics (+0.5%), Neuroscience (+14.7%), and what it calls Other Key Products (+1.6%). Eye Care product sales fell 13.3%.
‘Significant Momentum of our Ex-Humira Growth’
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Michael explained that AbbVie’s “significant momentum of our ex-Humira growth” will help it “deliver our top-tier long-term outlook.”
The company raised its full-year adjusted EPS to a range of $10.71 to 10.91 from the earlier $10.61 to $10.81.
Shares of AbbVie were up 3% to $181.57 as of 1:15 p.m. ET Thursday after earlier hitting a record $186.11. They are up about 17% year-to-date.