AbbVie's first-quarter sales top estimates, boosted by Humira, hepatitis C drugs

AbbVie announced Thursday that first-quarter sales increased 21.4 percent year-over-year to $7.9 billion, topping analyst estimates of $7.6 billion, with growth driven by Humira and the company's hepatitis C products. In the three-month period, profit reached $2.8 billion, up from $1.7 billion in the prior year.

CEO Richard Gonzalez said "AbbVie is off to an excellent start in 2018, delivering first quarter revenue and [earnings per share] growth well ahead of expectations." The executive noted that Humira, Imbruvica and Mavyret all delivered "significant contributions" to growth.

In the quarter, revenue from Humira climbed 14 percent to $4.7 billion, ahead of expectations of $4.6 billion. Meanwhile, sales of AbbVie's hepatitis C portfolio more than doubled to $919 million, outpacing analyst estimates of $572 million. The company attributed the rise in revenue to Mavyret, which was cleared by the FDA last August. Further, sales of Imbruvica jumped 38.5 percent year-over-year to $762 million, besting forecasts of $755.8 million.  

Commenting on the performance of Mavyret, which is authorised to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C virus genotypes 1-6 without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis, Gonzalez said "we have an asset that will allow us to be able to stay highly competitive and in a leadership position going forward." The company said it now expects sales of $3.5 billion from its hepatitis C drugs this year.

Regarding other products, revenue from Synagis increased by 6.9 percent to $321 million, while sales of Lupron totalled $219 million, up 13.3 percent year-over-year. AbbVie added that revenue from Creon improved 13 percent to $209 million, with sales of Synthroid falling 5.3 percent to $182 million.  

"Based on the robust performance of the business, we are increasing our full-year [earnings per share] guidance," Gonzalez remarked. The company now forecasts earnings per share in the range of $7.66 to $7.76, lifted from prior guidance of $7.33 to $7.43. The drugmaker noted that the guidance reflects an effective tax rate of about 9 percent for the year in addition to a one-time net tax benefit.

Commenting on the financial results, Jaffray analyst Christopher Raymond remarked that AbbVie's hepatitis C drugs "crushed it." Meanwhile, Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges stated "we believe these strong operating results and improved 2018 outlook will lead to an outperformance of AbbVie's stock today."

AbbVie also indicated Thursday that it plans to commence a self-tender offer to purchase up to $7.5 billion of its common stock. The drugmaker noted that this forms part of the $10-billion stock repurchase programme announced in February.  

Earlier this week, AbbVie submitted a filing to the FDA seeking approval of risankizumab for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The investigational IL-23 inhibitor, which is partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim, has been awarded orphan drug designation by the agency.

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