AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) closed Friday at $253.35, marking a 4.2% gain and a new 52-week high, as the stock added approximately $18 billion in equity value. The surge outpaced the $10.9 billion cash price the company agreed to pay for Apogee Therapeutics (NASDAQ: APGE), a deal that AbbVie has said won't boost adjusted earnings per share until 2032.
Trading volume reached around 52.6 million shares, far exceeding the average of 5.92 million shares, according to Google Finance data. The weekly performance was even more striking, with AbbVie up 10.1% from the prior Friday's close of $230.01. About half of that weekly gain came on Friday alone, as the stock held onto the momentum from Monday's deal announcement.
FDA approval for Skyrizi
After the market closed on Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved expanded pediatric use of Skyrizi, one of AbbVie's key immunology drugs. The regulator cleared Skyrizi for children aged six and older with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis or active psoriatic arthritis, and also approved a 55 mg syringe for patients weighing under 40 kg. The news was announced at approximately 4:50 p.m. ET.
AbbVie's Roopal Thakkar stated that Skyrizi is now the "first and only IL-23 inhibitor" with FDA approval in the U.S. for children aged six and up and under 40 kg with these conditions. In after-hours trading, AbbVie shares edged down 0.15% to $252.98 at 7:59 p.m. ET, but the approval sets up a fresh catalyst for Monday's trading session.
Market outperformance
AbbVie significantly outperformed the broader healthcare sector on Friday. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA: XLV) gained 3.0%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY) dropped 0.5%. AbbVie's 4.2% gain topped both benchmarks, highlighting strong investor conviction in the stock.
The gap between AbbVie's market value gain and the Apogee acquisition price is notable. Typically, investors are wary of debt-heavy biotech deals with distant payouts, but Friday's move suggests the market is pricing in significant long-term value from the Apogee pipeline, particularly the lead asset zumilokibart, which AbbVie sees as having "mega-blockbuster peak sales potential" in atopic dermatitis, asthma, and other inflammatory diseases.
Analyst perspectives
RBC Capital Markets' Brian Abrahams told Reuters that the Apogee deal "makes sense" and called AbbVie an "ideal acquirer" for zumilokibart. J.P. Morgan's Chris Schott noted that investors seeking more late-stage growth would likely appreciate the deal. RBC's Trung Huynh added to Investor's Business Daily that the acquisition "helps partially solve one of the biggest investor concerns of what drives growth beyond Skyrizi/Rinvoq."
Financial performance
AbbVie's immunology portfolio continues to drive strong results. Skyrizi generated $4.483 billion in first-quarter sales, up 30.9% year-over-year, while Rinvoq sales rose 23.3% to $2.119 billion. Humira, facing biosimilar competition, declined 38.6% to $688 million. The company plans to report second-quarter earnings before the market opens on July 31, with a conference call at 8 a.m. Central time.
With the Skyrizi pediatric approval now in hand and the Apogee deal set to close in the third quarter, AbbVie appears well-positioned to maintain its growth trajectory, even as investors await clarity on the long-term contribution of new immunology assets.
