What happened
Shares of the Illinois-based drugmaker AbbVie (ABBV 0.89%) were down by a hefty 5% as of 2:32 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. As a result, the Dividend Aristocrat's market capitalization has slipped by a staggering $13.2 billion today.
Why are investors hitting the exits today? Ahead of the opening bell, AbbVie announced its 2022 second-quarter earnings. With biosimilar competition eroding the sales of its top-selling anti-inflammatory medication, Humira, in Europe, investors were hoping to see its aesthetics and cancer portfolios pick up the slack. Unfortunately, these two key franchises posted unusually weak financial results for the three-month period.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Specifically, AbbVie's aesthetics portfolio posted a 4.4% dip in year-over-year sales in Q2 due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in China, as well as the suspension of operations in Russia.
On a similar note, the biopharma's blood cancer franchise saw its global revenue sink by an eye-popping 9.1% in the second quarter, relative to the same period a year ago. AbbVie's normally strong cancer unit contracted in the most recent quarter mainly due to a 17.1% drop in net revenue for the all-star blood disorder medication Imbruvica. The drug appears to be losing market share to newer competitors such as AstraZeneca's Calquence.
Now what
Is AbbVie's stock a buy on today's downturn? Over the first half of 2022, the drugmaker's shares were one of the few bright spots in the turbulent pharmaceutical space. AbbVie's stock, for instance, was up by a handsome 10.6% for the year prior to today's dip. Investors flocked to AbbVie earlier this year due to its top-notch dividend yield, strong growth prospects, and elite management team.
As today's earnings report shows, though, even gold-star companies like AbbVie can't entirely escape this rough global environment. Nonetheless, the drugmaker's stock is still a far safer investing vehicle than most of its large-cap biopharma peers. So, if you're looking for a compelling entry point into this Dividend Aristocrat, today's pullback might be your ticket.
