By Puyaan Singh and Christy Santhosh Feb 4 (Reuters) – AbbVie forecast 2026 profit above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday after the drugmaker posted a fourth-quarter results beat driven primarily by better-than-expected sales of its older immunology drug Humira. However, shares of the company slumped nearly 6% in morning trading as a sales miss by the company's newer immunology drug Rinvoq stoked investor concerns about the company's key growth drivers. "Investors continue to have concerns about growing competition for the company’s immunology and inflammation franchises, particularly from Johnson & Johnson's Tremfya in irritable bowel diseases," William Blair analyst Matt Phipps said. The drugmaker has been relying on newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq to counter a drop in Humira sales, which have been facing competition from cheaper biosimilars, or near copies of a biological drug. Humira was once the world's top-selling drug, with peak global sales of more than $21 billion in 2022 before it lost patent exclusivity in the U.S. While Skyrizi's quarterly sales of $5.01 billion beat estimates of $4.82 billion, Rinvoq's $2.37 billion missed expectations of $2.41 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. AbbVie reported an adjusted quarterly profit of $2.71 per share, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.65 per share. The beat was largely driven by Humira, which recorded a 25.9% slump in quarterly sales to $1.25 billion, but still beat estimates of $983.8 million. The drug is already off patent and expected to decline further. Still, AbbVie said it expects Rinvoq and Skyrizi to generate about $31.6 billion in total in 2026, hitting its target of more than $31 billion in combined sales a year earlier. "We continue to expect low-single-digit pricing headwinds for both of those products, both in 26 and over the next few years as well," Chief Financial Officer Scott Reents said. The company expects adjusted annual profit per share of between $14.37 and $14.57, compared with analysts' estimates of $14.24. (Reporting by Puyaan Singh and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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