Shares of AbbVie Inc.
ABBV,
rallied 1.7% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the biopharmaceutical company reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that beat expectations, and provided an upbeat full-year outlook. Net income dropped to $36 million, or 1 cent a share, from $2.80 billion, or $1.88 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as $4.7 billion charge in the Skyrizi contingent consideration liability due to higher estimated future sales, adjusted earnings per share rose to $2.92 from $2.21, above the FactSet consensus of $2.85. Revenue increased 59.2% to $13.86 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $13.70 billion, as Humira revenue grew 4.8% to $5.15 billion to beat expectations of $5.11 billion. For 2021, the company expects adjusted EPS of $12.32 to $12.52, compared with the current FactSet consensus of $12.20. The stock has climbed 17.6% over the past three months, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 13.6%.