North Chicago, IL-based AbbVie (ABBV), which has been in the news thanks to the recent approval of its hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment Viekira Pak, is best known for its autoimmune disease drug, Humira.
Humira, the company’s flagship product which is approved for a wide range of indications, is a major contributor to AbbVie’s top line. While Humira will remain the key growth driver at AbbVie, the coming quarters will see investor focus remaining primarily on the initial response to the Viekira Pak launch as well as the company’s sales expectations for 2015.
Although AbbVie has already provided earnings guidance for 2015 ($4.25 – $4.45 per share), the company will refine the guidance as the HCV launch progresses. Key players in the HCV market include Gilead’s (GILD) Sovaldi and Harvoni.
ABBV has a pretty good earnings track record with the company delivering positive earnings surprises in each of the last three quarters with an average surprise of 6.67% in the last four quarters. Estimate revisions are mostly positive with analysts upping their estimates for 2015.
Currently, ABBV has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), but that could definitely change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:
Earnings Beat: ABBV beat on fourth quarter earnings by four cents. Our consensus called for EPS of 85 cents, and the company reported EPS of 89 cents.
In-Line Revenues: AbbVie posted adjusted revenues of $5.371 billion, in line with consensus estimates.
Key Stats: Humira once again boosted the top line with sales coming in at $3.4 billion. Newly launched Viekira Pak delivered sales of $48 million.
ABBV confirmed its guidance for 2015 – the Zacks Consensus Estimate currently stands at $4.51 per share.
Stock Price: Shares are down slightly (0.74%) in pre-market trading following the release.
Check back later for our full write up on this ABBV earnings report later!
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