AbbVie Inc (ABBV)’s First Quarter: The Full Story of Humira And The 7 Dwarfs

Looking ahead
The company confirmed previous full-year guidance of $2.66 to $2.76 in diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis and adjusted earnings of $3.03 to $3.13 per share. Analysts expect adjusted earnings per share of $3.11 for the full year.

Prospects for Humira still look very strong. The recent European rejection of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)‘s rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz helps improve those prospects. While Pfizer intends to appeal this decision, the absence of Xeljanz in European markets means great news for AbbVie.

However, with AbbVie still depending on Humira for nearly 52% of total revenue, the company definitely needs other strong revenue sources. That will become even more important when Humira goes off-patent in a few years.

The company can’t count on AndroGel to help too much. Perrigo Company (NASDAQ:PRGO) gained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February for a generic version of a less concentrated form of the gel in February.

AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) does have some good candidates in the pipeline, but it will have to see some staggering successes to make up for eventual revenue declines when Humira loses exclusivity. My view is that the stock should continue to do well throughout 2013 and into the next couple of years. However, the future looks much murkier beyond that point.

The article AbbVie Q1: Story of Humira and the 7 Dwarfs originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Keith Speights and The Motley Fool have no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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