May 12, 2020

AbbVie Stock: Love It or Leave It?


The COVID-19 pandemic is still far from over, and many investors are increasingly looking for stability in a highly volatile stock market. And while no industry has been entirely immune to the adverse effects of the outbreak, some pharmaceutical companies have managed to handle the ongoing crisis better than most. AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) is one of those companies with financial results that haven't been hit hard by the public health crisis. The drugmaker released its first-quarter financial results May 1, and AbbVie's revenue of $8.6 billion and earnings per share of $2.02 both came in ahead of analyst estimates.

Still, detractors may point to the fact that AbbVie's most important cash cow, Humira, continues to lose steam abroad: During the first quarter, Humira's international revenue was $1.047 billion, representing a 14.9% year-over-year decrease. Humira has been AbbVie's crown jewel since the pharma giant split from its former parent company, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), to become a stand-alone publicly traded company in 2013.





Since then, AbbVie has outperformed the broader market -- largely thanks to Humira's growing sales -- with its shares gaining 136.6%, compared to 106.5% for the S&P 500. With this backdrop in mind, it isn't surprising that investors are skeptical of AbbVie now that Humira's sales are taking a serious hit. But even with Humira facing competition from biosimilars in Europe, there are plenty of reasons to love AbbVie's stock. Here are just three.



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