High-yield dividend stocks can be great for managing the ongoing reset in global equity markets. That said, these highly coveted income plays can also be fraught with risk, so it's important for investors to understand the threats and opportunities of the business behind the yield. 

Which high-yield dividend stocks are worth buying right now? These two blue-chip companies sport impressive yields, rock-solid free cash flows, and a bright long-term outlook. Read on to find out more about these above-average passive income opportunities. 

A roll of U.S. currency next to a sticky note that reads dividends.

Image source: Getty Images.

AbbVie

AbbVie (ABBV 0.91%) is an Illinois-based drugmaker with significant commercial footprints in the areas of immunology, hematology, and medical aesthetics. Since it was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, the drugmaker's shares have regularly beaten the annual returns of every major U.S. stock index.

AbbVie's success as a top investing vehicle can be attributed to three key factors:

  1. The company's flagship immunology drug Humira, which has racked up over $135 billion in U.S. sales since its launch two decades ago, has long been one of the best-selling medications in the world. 
  2. AbbVie's groundbreaking blood cancer drug, Imbruvica, enabled the company to successfully expand into the high-growth, high-profit oncology market.  
  3. AbbVie's deep commitment to paying a top-notch dividend yield, which presently stands at 3.85% on annualized basis, has attracted a favorable mix of institutional and income-seeking retail investors (i.e., investors that rarely sell shares due to the regular income provided by a stock). 

AbbVie, however, is at a critical inflection point in its life cycle. Humira sales are set to decline in a major way over the next two years due to the introduction of biosimilars (generic biologic drugs) into the U.S. market. What's more, Imbruvica is starting to face increased competition in the marketplace. Taken together, Humira and Imbruvica made up a whopping 44.4% of the company's total sales in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Topping it off, pricey acquisitions, such as its $63 billion buyout of Allergan, have added significant debt to the drugmaker's balance sheet (over $64 billion at last count) in recent years. As a result, AbbVie doesn't have the financial firepower to buy its way out of a jam in the event high-value pipeline assets fail to meet expectations.  

What does this all mean? AbbVie is expected to go through an earnings/revenue trough in 2023/2024 before returning to strong levels of bottom- and top-line growth in 2025. The good news is that most analysts covering the stock think the company's free cash flows ought to be strong enough to cover the company's stellar yield over this down period.

What's more, AbbVie's next wave of immunology (Skyrizi and Rinvoq) and hematology (epcoritamab) products should benefit from the company's entrenched competitive positioning in these high-value markets. Bottom line, AbbVie's above-average dividend yield screens as a "safe bet" as the company works through this ongoing portfolio churn. 

Ford

Ford is an iconic automaker with a 120-year operating history. The company's F-Series trucks have been America's top-selling vehicle for 41 straight years, and its ongoing pivot to electric vehicles (EVs) has gotten off to a blistering start with the introduction of the F-150 Lightning truck. In fact, initial demand for the F-150 Lightning was so robust that the automaker stopped taking reservations at one point. Most importantly, Ford should be well positioned to capitalize on the global transition to EVs thanks to its $50 billion investment in this high-growth platform.  

What about the dividend? Ford stock pays out a healthy 5.31% annualized yield at current levels, a figure that is over three times higher than the average yield of dividend stocks listed on the benchmark S&P 500. Moreover, the automaker's stellar yield is supported by its exceptional adjusted free cash flows, which have been averaging $3.2 billion over the last three quarters. Ford's top-notch dividend yield, strong free cash flows, and enormous investment in EVs make this stock a top buy for income investors.