AbbVie Defends Its Turf, But Leaves One Big Question Open

AbbVie’s growth engine is firing on all cylinders, but on its latest earnings call, analysts focused on whether the company can defend its turf and execute on its next big pipeline bet.

AbbVie (ABBV) is on a roll, with the stock up in the past year and trading near its 52-week high. The company just posted a quarter of solid sales growth, beating expectations and raising its full-year revenue guidance. However, the company trimmed its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance range slightly, from $13.91–$14.11 to $13.87–$14.07, reflecting dilution from the pending Apogee Therapeutics acquisition. But on its latest call, the real story wasn’t the victory lap; it was the sharp focus on whether this powerful momentum is built to last. The central question analysts kept circling was simple: with competition emerging and complex trials ahead, is AbbVie’s growth defensible?

Is The SKYRIZI Moat Holding?

The first test came on SKYRIZI, the immunology drug behind much of the company’s growth, with sales up 24% this quarter. A new oral competitor has entered the psoriasis market since March, raising the question of whether it would start eating into SKYRIZI’s share. Management pushed back with data rather than reassurance: they reported seeing “no degradation in any of our NBRx trends” since the rival launched, and said new-prescription growth for SKYRIZI has actually picked up. They explain that the newer drug is growing the overall advanced-therapy market rather than pulling patients away from SKYRIZI, a specific, numbers-based rebuttal rather than a general one.

A Blind Spot In The Pipeline?

The bigger unknown is further out: AbbVie’s next major franchise bet is in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), where lutikizumab and RINVOQ both have pivotal data due. One analyst raised a newer kind of risk, the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which can reduce inflammation and potentially “contribute to high placebo rates” in the trials, muddying the read on how well AbbVie’s drugs actually work. Management’s counter was structural: the trials are large enough that any GLP-1 effect should show up equally in both the placebo and treatment arms, washing out. It’s a reasonable answer, but not a closed case; unlike the SKYRIZI question, this one won’t be settled until the HS data actually reads out.

Execution Now, Execution Next.

Ultimately, AbbVie’s management team successfully argued that its current commercial execution is holding strong against new competition. The stock’s outperformance has been notable, and we recently looked at how ABBV stock moved away from its peer group. But the call left a bigger question unanswered: can the company execute on its next generation of complex clinical programs with the same precision? For investors who like the theme but not the single-stock risk, a broad healthcare ETF like XLV offers diversified exposure. The answer will come from the data. Management confirmed that results from the pivotal HS trials for both RINVOQ and lutikizumab are expected “later this year.” Those readouts will be the ultimate verdict on whether AbbVie’s pipeline execution is as solid as its current sales machine.

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