By Christy Santhosh and Puyaan Singh
(Reuters) -AbbVie raised its 2025 profit forecast on Friday after strong sales of its newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq helped the company beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter earnings, sending shares up more than 4% in premarket trading.
The company said its updated forecast did not reflect any trade policy shifts, including possible U.S. tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector.
The drugmaker’s stock, along with that of its peers, have plummeted over the past month due to investor concerns around a probe into the sector as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has sought to impose tariffs on the industry.
Earlier this week, peer Merck estimated $200 million in tariff-related costs.
Bernstein analysts said AbbVie is in their “highest risk category” along with Merck on potential tariffs, adding they expect a hit “in the range of low hundreds of millions of dollars” for the company, if it has similar exposure compared to its peers.
According to its latest annual filing, the company has more than 600 facilities worldwide, including in Ireland, where it makes its wrinkle treatment Botox.
Global sales of AbbVie’s flagship arthritis drug Humira, which faces competition from more than a dozen cheaper biosimilars, halved from last year to $1.12 billion in the first quarter, missing estimates of $1.32 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
AbbVie is now pushing Skyrizi and Rinvoq to counter the drop in Humira sales and expects the two newer drugs to bring more than $31 billion in 2027.
Skyrizi recorded sales of $3.43 billion, beating Wall Street estimates of $3.15 billion, while Rinvoq sales of $1.72 billion topped estimates of $1.59 billion.
The company expects its annual adjusted profit to be between $12.09 and $12.29 per share, compared with its previous outlook of $11.99 to $12.19.
On an adjusted basis, AbbVie earned $2.46 per share in the first quarter, compared with analysts’ average expectation of $2.38 per share.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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