AbbVie raises profit outlook as Skyrizi and Rinvoq offset Humira's decline

AbbVie reported third-quarter 2026 earnings on Friday, a date the company had announced a month earlier, that beat Wall Street's expectations, raised its full-year profit guidance and lifted its quarterly dividend, as sales of its newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq continued to outpace the decline of its once-dominant drug Humira. The North Chicago, Illinois-based pharmaceutical company also closed its $10.9 billion acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics during the quarter, adding two experimental drugs to its pipeline.

Worldwide net revenue reached $17.404 billion for the quarter ended September 30, up 10.3% on a reported basis and 10.5% at constant currency, according to the earnings release AbbVie issued through its newsroom. That topped the roughly $17.37 billion analysts had expected, per Zacks Investment Research. Adjusted diluted earnings per share came in at $3.82, edging past the $3.74-a-share average estimate compiled by Zacks and landing above the $3.73-to-$3.77 guidance range AbbVie itself had set in a securities filing posted to the SEC's EDGAR database. On an unadjusted basis, GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.37.

Immunology drugs carry the quarter

The results underscore how thoroughly AbbVie has rebuilt its business since Humira, once the world's best-selling drug, lost U.S. patent protection in 2023 and began ceding ground to cheaper biosimilar copies. Humira's global revenue fell 31.2% in the quarter to $683 million. But AbbVie's replacement drugs more than covered the gap: combined sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq, both treatments for inflammatory conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, reached roughly $8.48 billion for the quarter.

• Immunology portfolio: $9.165 billion, up 16.3%, led by Skyrizi ($5.776 billion, up 22.7%) and Rinvoq ($2.706 billion, up 23.9%)
• Neuroscience: $3.389 billion, up 19.4%, led by Vraylar and Botox Therapeutic, each above $1 billion for the quarter
• Oncology: $1.696 billion, up 0.8%, as growth in Venclexta and Elahere offset a 26.1% drop in Imbruvica
• Aesthetics: $1.176 billion, down 1.4%, dragged by an 11.8% decline in Juvederm filler sales

The company credited the immunology and neuroscience franchises for the bulk of the quarter's growth, and it raised its full-year sales outlook for both segments as part of the broader guidance increase, according to a recap of the earnings call carried by Yahoo Finance.

Apogee deal closes, dividend goes up

AbbVie completed its acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics during the quarter, a deal the company first announced earlier this year and has described as its largest since 2019. The purchase adds zumilokibart, an antibody for atopic dermatitis, and APG273, a combination therapy for asthma, to AbbVie's immunology pipeline. The release disclosed $408 million in pretax acquisition and integration costs tied primarily to the deal, and executives said on the earnings call that AbbVie plans to bring its net leverage down to roughly twice earnings over the next two to three years as it digests the purchase, per the Yahoo Finance recap of that call. AbbVie has said the Apogee deal will dilute earnings through 2027 before turning accretive around 2032.

Alongside the results, AbbVie's board raised the quarterly dividend 5.2%, to $1.82 a share from $1.73, with the increase taking effect for the payment due February 16, 2027. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert A. Michael tied the increase directly to the quarter's performance.

"AbbVie continues to deliver outstanding results, reflecting solid execution across our diverse portfolio," Michael said in the earnings release.

AbbVie now expects full-year 2026 adjusted diluted earnings per share of $13.95 to $13.99, up from its prior range of $13.76 to $13.96, a roughly 11-cent increase at the midpoint. The new range still absorbs a $0.69-per-share hit from acquired research-and-development and milestone charges booked so far this year, including those tied to Apogee. The company also lifted its full-year revenue forecast by about $200 million, to roughly $67.8 billion, and guided to fourth-quarter revenue near $18.4 billion with adjusted earnings of $3.83 to $3.87 a share, according to the Yahoo Finance call recap.

Market reaction and what comes next

Investors responded positively: AbbVie shares rose about 1.72%, or roughly $5, to close near $295.79 in Friday's session, according to a report from BigGo Finance that cited Investing.com data. That reaction came despite Zacks assigning the stock its lowest-tier "Sell" ranking even as it flagged the earnings beat — a reminder that some analysts view the stock's run-up this year, more than 27% year to date by Zacks' count, as having gotten ahead of the underlying growth rate.

The quarter's winners and losers illustrate where AbbVie's bets are paying off and where they are not. Skyrizi won U.S. approval during the quarter for a subcutaneous induction regimen in Crohn's disease, a move executives said should broaden its reach as payer access ramps up into 2027. The company's Parkinson's disease drug Juvmo (tavapadon) received FDA approval in the quarter, though AbbVie cautioned that broader Medicare coverage for it is not expected until 2028, meaning sales will build gradually. In oncology, AbbVie submitted etentamig for regulatory review as a treatment for heavily pretreated multiple myeloma and reported positive Phase 3 data pairing Epkinly with the chemotherapy regimen R-CHOP in previously untreated lymphoma patients.

One unresolved regulatory question looms over the aesthetics and neuroscience units: a federal court ruled in AbbVie's favor on whether Botox is eligible for Medicare drug-price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act, a decision the government may still appeal. AbbVie executives told analysts on the call that they do not expect a negotiated price to be published while that fight continues. For now, the company said future acquisitions are likely to be smaller, bolt-on purchases in immunology, neuroscience, oncology and obesity rather than another deal on the scale of Apogee — a sign that, for the moment, AbbVie considers its post-Humira rebuild largely complete.