Investors Were Not Impressed With AbbVie Q4 Earnings

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) reported its fourth-quarter financial results after the markets closed Thursday. The company said it had $1.13 in earnings per share (EPS) on $6.36 billion in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $1.12 in EPS on revenue of $6.39 billion. The same period from the previous year had EPS of $0.89 and $5.37 billion in revenue.

On an operational basis, net revenues increased 24.4%, excluding a 6.0% unfavorable impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

Global Humira sales increased 16.0% on an operational basis, excluding the impact of foreign exchange. Exceptional U.S. Humira growth of 20.7% was driven by continued momentum across all three major market categories: rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology. International Humira sales growth was also strong in the fourth quarter, up 9.7% on an operational basis. Reported international Humira sales growth in the quarter was reduced by 13.1% due to unfavorable foreign exchange.

During this quarter, the FDA-approved Empliciti (elotuzumab) for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) as a combination therapy in patients who have received one to three prior therapies. Empliciti was co-developed by AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb and will be marketed by the latter. This approval was based on data from a Phase 3 study that demonstrated that patients treated with Empliciti plus standard of care therapy achieved a 30% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to standard of care alone. This is the first FDA approval for an immune-stimulatory antibody for MM in this indication.
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In terms of the outlook, AbbVie expects earnings in the range of $4.90 to $5.10 per share, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $5.03.

Richard A. Gonzalez, chairman and CEO of AbbVie, commented:

AbbVie delivered strong performance in 2015, exceeding original sales, margin expansion, and earnings projections for the year. We achieved significant growth in 2015, and expect to continue building on that momentum in 2016 with another year of strong performance.

Shares of AbbVie were down 2.7% to $54.31 Friday morning, with a consensus analyst price target of $72.67 and a 52-week trading range of $45.45 to $71.60.