AbbVie beats earnings expectations, raises its outlook and boosts dividend

Shares of AbbVie Inc. gained 0.2% in premarket trading Friday, after the biopharmaceutical and health care company reported third-quarter earnings that beat expectations, raised its full-year outlook and boosted its dividend by 10%. Net income rose to $2.31 billion, or $1.29 a share, from $1.88 billion, or $1.26 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share grew to $2.83 from $2.33, beating the FactSet consensus of $2.76. Revenue grew 52.2% to $12.90 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $12.72 billion. "Results from key growth products -- including Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Ubrelvy -- continue to track ahead of our expectations, our aesthetics portfolio is demonstrating a strong V-shaped recovery, our hematologic-oncology franchise is delivering double-digit growth and we're advancing numerous attractive late-stage pipeline programs," said Chief Executive Richard Gonzalez. The company cautioned that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic remain uncertain, but it raised its full-year adjusted EPS outlook to $10.47 to $10.49 from $10.35 to $10.45. AbbVie also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.30 a share from $1.18, with the new dividend payable Feb. 16 to shareholders of record on Jan. 15. The stock has lost 8.9% year to date through Thursday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has slipped 0.2% and the S&P 500 has gained 2.5%.

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