BofA Lifts J&J Target to $278, Sees Q3 EPS 12% Below Street

AbbVie has secured FDA approval for Juvmo, a once-daily oral treatment for Parkinson's disease, with a commercial launch targeted for October 2026. Juvmo is the first selective D1/D5 dopamine receptor agonist that can be used both as a standalone treatment and in combination with levodopa, the current standard of care for Parkinson's symptoms. The approval expands AbbVie's Parkinson's portfolio, which already includes Vyalev and Duopa, and management expects the three therapies to collectively represent a peak-sales opportunity of more than $5 billion. Neuroscience now accounts for nearly a fifth of AbbVie's overall topline and generated $6.1 billion in revenues in the first half of 2026, up 22% year over year, with the company expecting approximately $12.7 billion in neuroscience revenues for the full year. The approval could also deliver a commercial payoff from AbbVie's approximately $8.7 billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics in 2024, a deal that came under pressure after emraclidine failed in two registration-enabling phase II studies in schizophrenia and prompted a $3.5 billion impairment charge. AbbVie competes in neuroscience with Biogen, which markets Leqembi with Eisai and Zurzuvae, and Johnson & Johnson, whose portfolio is anchored by Spravato and Invega Sustenna and was strengthened by last year's acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, adding Caplyta.

AbbVie has landed on Zacks.com's list of the most searched stocks, drawing fresh attention to the drugmaker's near-term outlook. For the current quarter, AbbVie is expected to post earnings of $3.85 per share, a change of +107% from the year-ago quarter, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate has moved -0.1% over the last 30 days. The consensus earnings estimate of $14.05 for the current fiscal year indicates a year-over-year change of +40.5%, and the next fiscal year's consensus of $16.12 points to a change of +14.8%. On the top line, the consensus sales estimate for the current quarter of $17.36 billion indicates a year-over-year change of +10%, with current and next fiscal year estimates of $67.56 billion and $73.39 billion indicating changes of +10.5% and +8.6%. In the last reported quarter, AbbVie posted revenues of $16.99 billion, up +10.2% year over year, and EPS of $3.65 versus $2.97 a year ago, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.81 billion by +1.07% on revenue with an EPS surprise of +0.27%. The recent change in the consensus estimate, along with three other factors related to earnings estimates, has resulted in a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for AbbVie, and the stock is graded C on the Zacks Value Style Score.

Eli Lilly and Company said post-hoc analyses of the ATTAIN-1 trial showed its oral GLP-1 Foundayo, or orforglipron, was associated with significant reductions in predicted 10-year risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in adults with obesity or overweight with a weight-related medical problem. At 72 weeks, participants taking Foundayo 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg showed estimated reductions in predicted type 2 diabetes risk versus placebo of 45.0%, 50.0% and 57.0%, respectively, while those taking Foundayo 17.2 mg also showed an estimated 18.0% reduction in predicted cardiovascular disease risk versus placebo. The findings were published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Thomas Seck, M.D., senior vice president of product development at Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said the analyses showed Foundayo was associated with a lower predicted long-term risk of both conditions in addition to meaningful weight loss, and that treating obesity and reducing downstream consequences can meaningfully lower healthcare costs. ATTAIN-1 was a Phase 3, 72-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that randomized 3,127 participants across the U.S., Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Spain and Taiwan. Foundayo is FDA-approved for adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems, and orforglipron was discovered by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and licensed by Lilly in 2018.