AbbVie rises as 1st-qtr tops expectations

Shares of US biopharma AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) were up 2.33% at $80.50 in pre-market trading this morning, as the company released first-quarter financial results that beat consensus forecasts.

First-quarter net revenues were $7.83 billion, an Increase of 0.4% on an operational basis, excluding a 1.7% unfavorable impact from foreign exchange, and beating the $7.80 billion forecast based on a FactSet survey of 14 analysts.

First-quarter diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $1.65 on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, while adjusted diluted EPS of $2.14 reflected growth of 14.4% and was well ahead of analysts’ forecasts of $2.06. Excluding adjustments, net earnings fell 11% to $2.5 billion in the first quarter.