AbbVie (ABBV) Tops Q2 Earnings & Revenues, Outlook Intact

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) reported better-than-expected results in the second quarter of 2017. The company surpassed both earnings and sales expectations.

In the year so far, AbbVie’s shares have rallied 11.8%, thus favorably comparing with the industry’s increase of 9.9%.

The biopharmaceutical company reported second-quarter 2017 earnings of $1.42 per share that marginally beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.40 per share by 1.4%. Earnings grew 12.7% year over year.

The company posted revenues of $6.94 billion in the reported quarter, which again narrowly surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.93 billion. Revenues also increased 8% year over year. On operational basis, revenue increased 8.9%.

Quarter in Detail

Key drug Humira recorded sales growth of 14.9%, on an operational basis, with revenues coming in at $4.72 billion. Sales in the U.S. increased 18% to $3.2 billion. Humira sales in the ex-U.S. market were up 9.1% on operational basis and 5.5% on reported basis to $1.52 billion. Growth across all three major market categories drove the upside despite increasing competition from new classes of drugs as well as indirect biosimilar competition in international markets.

Second-quarter net revenue from Imbruvica stood at $626 million, up 42.6% year over year. U.S. sales of Imbruvica were $528 million, up 37.6% compared to the year-ago figure. AbbVie recorded $98 million of international profit-sharing with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) .

Other products that delivered an impressive performance include Duodopa, showing revenues of $81 million, up 16% on operational and 12.7% on reported basis. Another product called Creon reported revenues of $196 million, up 9.5% on both operational and reported basis.

HCV product Viekira recorded sales of $225 million, down 14.4% sequentially. Sales were also down on operational and reported basis by 45.9% and 46.4%, respectively, due to intense pricing and competitive pressure in the HCV market.

Adjusted SG&A expenses dipped 2.2% to $1.41 billion while R&D expenses escalated 21.6% to $1.21 billion in the quarter. Adjusted operating margin was 44.6% of sales in the reported quarter.

2017 Outlook

AbbVie reiterated its previously issued outlook for 2017. The company maintains its adjusted EPS in the range of $5.44–$5.54, thus reflecting year-over-year growth of 13.9% at the mid-point.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the health care sector are Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Eli Lilly’s earnings per share estimates inched up from $4.11 to $4.14 for 2017 and from $4.35 to $4.49 for 2018, over the last 30 days. The company’s shares have shot up 12.9% so far this year.

Sanofi’s earnings per share estimates increased from $3.18 to $3.24 for 2017 and from $3.30 to $3.38 for 2018, over the last 30 days. The company delivered positive earnings surprises in two of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 5.10%. Shares of the company have risen 18.9% so far this year.

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