What's the biggest knock against many high-yield dividend stocks? Probably that either the dividend or the share price is likely to sink sooner or later. That means that you often won't want to own these stocks for very long.

There are exceptions, though. Here's one phenomenal high-yield dividend stock you can buy and hold forever.

Impeccable dividend credentials

AbbVie (ABBV 0.56%) isn't an ordinary dividend stock. First of all, the big drugmaker offers an especially juicy yield of over 4.3%. That's nearly three times greater than the average yield of a stock in the S&P 500.

Even better, AbbVie has an impressive track record of dividend increases. The company has raised its dividend for 51 consecutive years, making it a member of the elite group of Dividend Kings.

Some might argue that most of that achievement was made while AbbVie was part of Abbott Labs. That's true. However, it doesn't minimize the accomplishment. Furthermore, AbbVie has boosted its dividend by a whopping 270% since its spin-off from Abbott.

Importantly, AbbVie should be in a great position to continue its remarkable streak of dividend hikes. Last year, the company paid roughly $10 billion in dividends. But it generated around $24 billion in free cash flow. 

Near-term challenges

One potential objection to investing in AbbVie is that company faces biosimilar competition for Humira. That's certainly a big deal. Humira raked in 37% of AbbVie's total revenue in 2022. 

The company is already feeling the impact of new competition to Humira in the U.S. Global sales for the drug fell 25.2% year over year in the first quarter of this year. That dragged overall revenue down by 9.7%. 

Don't give up on AbbVie because of these headwinds, though. The company has long known the day would come when its sales for Humira would tumble. And it has prepared for that day.

AbbVie already has two successors to Humira on the market (Rinvoq and Skyrizi). The company fully expects that these drugs together will generate greater sales than Humira did at its peak. It also has other strong growth drivers, notably including Botox, antipsychotic drug Vraylar, and migraine drug Ubrelvy. 

The slump resulting from Humira losing U.S. patent exclusivity shouldn't last very long. AbbVie thinks that it will return to robust growth beginning in 2025.

Phenomenal

Most drugmakers will eventually face patent cliffs. The best ones, though, are able to successfully fund profits made from their top-selling drugs into research and development and dealmaking to build up strong pipelines. AbbVie has done just that.

The company's pipeline currently features more than 90 compounds in development. Over 50 of them are in either mid- or late-stage clinical testing. Roughly 60% of these programs have a novel mechanism of action. 

AbbVie has also pulled off several smart acquisitions in recent years. The biggest of these was its 2019 purchase of Allergan. Its latest deal was the acquisition of DJS Antibodies. 

The facts are clear. AbbVie boasts a great track record of execution. It has consistently met or beat its guidance. The company won't just survive the loss of exclusivity of its top drug but will ultimately thrive.

AbbVie pays a juicy dividend with a history of increases that few can top. That dividend will almost certainly continue to grow for years to come. I think we can truly sum up this high-yield dividend stock in one word -- phenomenal.