Advertisement
UK markets close in 40 minutes
  • FTSE 100

    7,967.06
    +35.08 (+0.44%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,897.44
    +86.78 (+0.44%)
     
  • AIM

    743.97
    +1.86 (+0.25%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1690
    +0.0021 (+0.18%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2628
    -0.0010 (-0.08%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,426.28
    +1,740.40 (+3.18%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.43
    +5.94 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,777.96
    +17.88 (+0.04%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    82.52
    +1.17 (+1.44%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,234.50
    +21.80 (+0.99%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,505.42
    +28.33 (+0.15%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,215.81
    +11.00 (+0.13%)
     

Is a Beat in Store for AbbVie (ABBV) This Earnings Season?

We expect AbbVie Inc. ABBV to beat expectations when it reports second-quarter 2019 results on Jul 26, before market open. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.88%.

Shares of AbbVie have declined 25.6% so far this year compared with the industry‘s decrease of 1.1%.

Notably, AbbVie’s earnings history is decent with the pharmaceuticals company outpacing estimates in three of the last four quarters with the average beat being 2.58%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for the company this quarter.

Factors to Consider

Although U.S. sales of AbbVie’s flagship product, Humira are expected to increase in the soon-to-be-reported quarter, international sales are likely to decline significantly. The drop in international sales is likely to be due to the launch of biosimilars in Europe. The drug achieved modest growth rate in the first quarter amid competition from branded as well as biosimilar drugs.

ADVERTISEMENT

The company’s key oncology drug, Imbruvica, which is marketed in partnership with J&J JNJ, is on a growth path, given impressive adoption in first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The increased adoption is expected to aid second-quarter results. Label expansions of another oncology drug, Venclexta, drove sales in the first quarter. We expect a similar trend in the soon-to-be reported quarter.

However, AbbVie’s new HCV drug, Mavyret recorded a decline in the first quarter, following an impressive performance in 2018 due to lower sales in international markets. We will have to wait and see whether sales improve in international markets this time around.

AbbVie expects earnings per share for the quarter to be in the range of $2.20 and $2.22. Revenues are expected to be approximately $8.1 billion. However, currency movement is likely to have an unfavorable impact of nearly 1.5%.

In the second quarter, adjusted operating margin is expected to be similar to the first-quarter level of 48.1%, which is higher than the full-year expectation of just above 47%. This is because the company targets higher spending to support product launches in the second half.

In a major move last month, AbbVie offered to acquire Botox-maker Allergan AGN for $63 billion. However, investors are skeptical about the value-addition and synergies from the deal. Although AbbVie held a conference call last month to discuss the deal, we expect investors to have several questions related to the proposed mega merger on the earnings call.

Why a Likely Positive Surprise?

Our proven model indicates that AbbVie is likely to beat earnings estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen.

Earnings ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate ($2.22) and the Zacks Consensus Estimate ($2.21), stands at +0.12%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: AbbVie has a Zacks Rank #2. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank makes us reasonably confident of an earnings beat.

Conversely, we caution against the Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

AbbVie Inc. Price and Consensus

 

AbbVie Inc. Price and Consensus
AbbVie Inc. Price and Consensus

AbbVie Inc. price-consensus-chart | AbbVie Inc. Quote

Another Stock That Warrants a Look

Here is another drug stock that you may also want to consider, as our model shows that it has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in its upcoming release.

Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY has an Earnings ESP of +0.28% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Allergan plc (AGN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research