AbbVie Inc. (ABBV – Free Report) reported mixed results in the third quarter of 2017. The company surpassed earnings estimates, while posted in-line revenues during the period. Importantly, the company raised its long-term sales expectations of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, despite rising competition in the market. In response, shares nudged up almost 2% in pre-market trading.
In the year so far, AbbVie’s shares have surged 48.6%, significantly outperforming the industry’s 16.1% rally.
The biopharmaceutical company reported third-quarter 2017 earnings of $1.41 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.39 by 1.4%. The bottom line grew 16.5% year over year.
The company posted revenues of $7 billion in the reported quarter, having met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenues also increased 9.5% year over year. Excluding a 0.7% favorable impact from foreign exchange rate fluctuations, operational revenues climbed 8.8%.
Quarter in Detail
Key drug Humira recorded sales growth of 14.8%, on an operational basis, with revenues coming in at $4.7 billion. Sales in the United States rallied 19.1% to $3.2 billion. Humira sales in the ex-U.S. market were up 6.8% on operational basis and 9.7% on reported basis to $1.55 billion. Growth across all three major market categories drove the upside, despite increasing competition from new classes of drugs as well as an indirect biosimilar competition in international markets.
Third-quarter net revenue from Imbruvica stood at $688 million, up 37.3% year over year. U.S. sales of Imbruvica were $574 million, up 31% compared with the year-ago figure. AbbVie recorded $114 million of international profit sharing with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ – Free Report) .
Other products that delivered an impressive performance include Duodopa, showing revenue growth of 22% on operational and 26.3% on reported basis. Another product called Creon witnessed an increase of 14.8% in revenues on both operational and reported basis.
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