AbbVie Falls Following Q3 Release – Softness in US Sales Likely to ‘Raise Concerns’

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AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) shares are down more than 5% in early Friday trading after the company reported third-quarter earnings before the open, missing revenue expectations.

The company reported earnings of $3.66 per share, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $3.58, while revenue for the quarter came in at $14.81 billion versus the consensus estimate of $14.93 billion.

Following the report, Mizuho Securities analysts told investors in a note that AbbVie’s softness in US sales for Botox Cosmetics and Juvederm is “likely to raise concerns about macro headwinds on the cash pay business going into 2023.”

“Botox Cosmetics reported global sales of $637M, missing FactSet Consensus of $641M. The shortfall appears to be driven by soft US sales of $370M, which unusually saw a modest 4.1% Y/Y growth and -18% Q/Q growth (vs historical high single digits Q/Q decline). Investors are likely to read that the weak Botox performance doesn’t bode well for Evolus (NASDAQ:EOLS)’ Jeuveau, for which we currently model ~$35M (+31% Y/Y, and -6% Q/Q) in 3Q22 sales. We could see weakness in EOLS this morning,” wrote analysts.

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note: “ABBV reported 3Q22 revenues of $14.8bn, coming in ~-1% below vs GS/FactSet consensus estimates of $15.0bn/$15.0bn, respectively. EPS of $3.66 was ahead of GS/cons estimates of $3.56/$3.57 (Exhibit 1). The EPS beat was driven by higher gross margins and lower R&D spending. F/X was a ~2.2% headwind (~$320mn) in the quarter.”

“ABBV tightened its 2022 EPS guidance at the previously provided range of $13.84-$13.88 (adjusted for ~$0.25 impact relating to the requirement to account for IPR&D in the quarter). This compares to GS/consensus EPS estimates for the year of $13.91/$13.85, respectively. We will look for revenue guidance updates on the call. Additionally of note, ABBV raised its dividend by +5%.”