By Kamal Choudhury and Christy Santhosh
Oct 30 (Reuters) – AbbVie raised its annual profit forecast after topping Wall Street expectations for the third quarter on Friday, as booming sales of newer immunology drugs and its neuroscience portfolio offset the decline in former top-seller Humira.
Shares of the company, however, slipped over 1% in premarket trading, as analysts said the quarterly beat was modest following the stock’s strong run.
AbbVie’s shares have risen about 27% so far this year and closed at a record high of $290.79 on Thursday.
Citi analyst Geoffrey Meacham said the “magnitude of the upside remains modest relative to biopharma peers”, and the debate over AbbVie’s pipeline and business development efforts beyond its immunology drugs is likely to persist.
The drugmaker’s immunology franchise, led by Skyrizi and Rinvoq, is doing the heavy lifting to fill the void left by its arthritis treatment Humira, which lost US patent exclusivity in 2023.
Skyrizi, indicated for skin and gastrointestinal conditions, recorded sales of $5.78 billion for the quarter, growing 22.7% from a year earlier and beating Wall Street estimates of $5.75 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Rinvoq, which is used to treat a range of inflammatory joint, skin and gastrointestinal conditions, generated $2.71 billion in revenue, in line with analyst expectations.
RBC Capital Markets said the results were “unlikely to materially advance the growth narrative in the near term,” adding that the outperformance of Skyrizi and Rinvoq was narrowing.
AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio also helped the earnings beat, with revenue climbing 19% to $3.39 billion, helped by Botox Therapeutic and antipsychotic drug Vraylar.
The drugmaker now expects annual adjusted profit of $13.95 to $13.99 per share, compared with its prior view of $13.76 to $13.96. The forecast includes a 69 cents hit from acquired in-process R&D and milestone expenses booked year to date through the third quarter.
AbbVie reported quarterly revenue of $17.40 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.82 per share, with both figures topping analyst estimates.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
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