AbbVie raises 2026 guidance as Skyrizi and Rinvoq drive growth

AbbVie beat estimates for both earnings and sales in first-quarter 2026 results announced on April 29 and raised its guidance for 2026 revenues and earnings. Earnings rose 7.7% year over year while revenues rose 10.3% on an operational basis, and key drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq both beat estimates in the quarter.

The company raised its EPS guidance for the full year from a range of $13.96-$14.16 to $14.08-$14.28. Total revenue guidance was raised from $67 billion to $67.3 billion in 2026.

Sales of AbbVie’s blockbuster drug, Humira, are declining due to loss of exclusivity and biosimilar erosion. Humira’s sales fell from $21.2 billion in 2023 to just $4.5 billion in 2025, but AbbVie has successfully navigated the loss of exclusivity of a drug that once generated more than 50% of its total revenues by launching two other successful new immunology medicines, Skyrizi and Rinvoq.

Skyrizi and Rinvoq generated combined sales of $26.0 billion in 2025, exceeding expectations and representing year-over-year growth of more than 40%. In the first quarter of 2026, Skyrizi and Rinvoq generated combined sales of $6.6 billion, reflecting strong demand for all approved indications, and AbbVie expects combined Skyrizi and Rinvoq sales of more than $31 billion in 2026. Strong immunology market growth, market share gains and momentum from new indications, as well as the potential for five new indications for Rinvoq over the next few years, are expected to drive growth. Rinvoq could be approved for two indications — vitiligo and alopecia areata in 2026, and phase III data with Rinvoq in hidradenitis suppurativa and systemic lupus erythematosus are expected in 2026.

AbbVie expects a low single-digit pricing headwind for both Skyrizi and Rinvoq in 2026 and over the next few years. The launch of a new oral pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, Icotyde, has increased competitive pressure for Skyrizi, which can impact the product’s prescription trends.

AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio is also contributing to top-line growth. Sales of its neuroscience drugs increased 24.3% to $2.88 billion in the first quarter of 2026, driven by higher sales of Botox Therapeutic, depression drug Vraylar, newer migraine drugs Ubrelvy and Qulipta and new Parkinson’s disease drug Vyalev.

The initial international launch uptake of Vyalev, approved in late 2024, has been encouraging, and AbbVie expects Vyalev to achieve blockbuster status in 2026. AbbVie’s Parkinson’s disease franchise, comprising Vyalev and once-daily oral treatment tavapadon, is viewed as a key driver of growth in neuroscience, with tavapadon under review in the United States and an FDA decision expected in the third quarter of 2026.

AbbVie’s oncology sales declined 3% to $1.63 billion in the first quarter, as higher Venclexta sales and contributions from new drugs, Elahere, Epkinly and Emrelis, were offset by an expected decline in Imbruvica sales. AbbVie also got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market Venclexta as a first-line treatment for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma in combination with acalabrutinib; it is the first wholly oral fixed-period treatment for this patient group.

Over the next couple of years, AbbVie expects new product approvals for tavapadon and pivekimab sunirine and pivotal data readouts for key pipeline candidates, lutikizumab, Temab-A and etentamig. AbbVie now has more than 90 compounds in its pipeline, with two-thirds of them in mid- or late-stage trials.

AbbVie has spent big on acquisitions to build up its pipeline. In February 2024, it spent more than $10 billion to buy ImmunoGen, gaining Elahere. In August 2024, it bought Cerevel Therapeutics for $8.7 billion, gaining emraclidine and tavapadon. In December 2024, it spent $1.4 billion to buy Aliada Therapeutics for its Alzheimer’s disease therapies, and in January it spent $650 million for RC148, a next-generation bispecific therapy designed to treat various advanced solid tumors.