AbbVie's Pipeline Growth and Dividend Track Record Draw Long-Term Investors

AbbVie has successfully navigated one of the pharmaceutical industry's most challenging patent cliffs, transitioning from heavy dependence on Humira to robust growth driven by two immunology blockbusters, Skyrizi and Rinvoq. Humira's sales fell from $21.2 billion in 2023 to just $4.5 billion in 2025 due to generic competition, but AbbVie's overall revenue was better than ever in 2025.

The company's revenue rose 8.6% to $61.2 billion in 2025, while earnings per share fell 1.3% to $2.36 due to spending on research and development and acquisitions. In 2025, the company had 10 therapies with annual sales of $1 billion or more. The gross margin stood at 72.6% in the fourth quarter.

AbbVie spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and today ranks as the world's third-largest healthcare company by market cap. The company has been in business since 1888, initially as part of Abbott. Counting its time as part of Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years, including a 5.5% bump this year, making it a Dividend King. Since its spinoff from Abbott in 2013, AbbVie has raised its payouts by more than 330%. At its current share price, the stock yields around 2.8%, more than twice the average yield of the S&P 500. The forward dividend yield stands at 3.1%.

The company has spent aggressively on acquisitions to build up its pipeline. In January, it plunked down $650 million for one promising oncology drug, RC148, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company RemeGen. RC148 is a next-generation bispecific therapy designed to treat various advanced solid tumors. In February 2024, AbbVie spent more than $10 billion to buy ImmunoGen, gaining Elahere, a treatment for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In August 2024, it bought Cerevel Therapeutics for $8.7 billion, gaining two clinical-stage neuroscience therapies: emraclidine, a potential best-in-class antipsychotic for schizophrenia, and tavapadon for Parkinson's disease. In December 2024, it spent $1.4 billion to buy Aliada Therapeutics for its Alzheimer's disease therapies.

AbbVie now has more than 90 compounds in its pipeline, with two-thirds of them in mid- or late-stage trials. Around 60 of the roughly 90 programs in clinical development are either in mid- or late-stage studies.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Venclexta as a first-line treatment for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma in combination with acalabrutinib. It's the first wholly oral fixed-period treatment for this patient group. AbbVie developed Venclexta in partnership with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche.

AbbVie's shares are up a little more than 114% over the past five years, but the company's total return over that period is more than 160%. The stock has more than doubled over the last five years.