Will AbbVie's Oncology Segment Support Top-line Growth in Q4 Earnings?

A meaningful portion of AbbVie’s ABBV revenues comes from its oncology franchise. Initially anchored by blood cancer drugs Imbruvica and Venclexta, the company has expanded its offerings into solid tumors. The newer drugs include Epkinly (for lymphoma), Elahere (for ovarian cancer) and Emrelis (for lung cancer), bringing the total to five oncology therapies. Sales of the oncology segment accounted for more than 11% of AbbVie’s total revenues in the first nine months of 2025, which grew 3% year over year.

Our model estimates that fourth-quarter 2025 sales for the overall oncology segment will be $1.75 billion, representing nearly 4% year-over-year growth. While Venclexta, Epkinly and Elahere are likely to have contributed to growth during the quarter, these gains may have been partially offset by the continued decline in Imbruvica sales amid rising competition from novel oral therapies. Since Emrelis was approved last year in May, we expect the drug’s sales to be modest during the quarter.

Though AbbVie’s oncology portfolio is contributing meaningfully, investor focus will largely remain on the company’s immunology franchise, which houses three flagship drugs, namely Humira, Rinvoq and Skyrizi. All eyes will be on the magnitude of their sequential growth and market share gains when the company reports fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results on Feb. 4.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Other bigger players in the oncology space are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck MRK and Pfizer PFE.

For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now account for 43% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 16% year over year in the first nine months of 2025, driven by strong performance of medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounted for about 48% of MRK’s total revenues in the first nine months of 2025.

Pfizer’s oncology revenues grew 7% in the first nine months of 2025, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev. The segment now accounts for more than 27% of Pfizer’s total revenues.

ABBV’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of AbbVie have outperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.

From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is trading at a discount to the industry. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 15.19 times forward earnings, lower than its industry’s average of 17.56. The stock is also trading above its five-year mean of 13.56.

The bottom-line estimate per share for 2025 has remained stable at $10.64 in the past 30 days, while those for 2026 have increased from $14.38 to $14.42 over the same time frame.

AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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