Shares of AbbVie Inc.
ABBV,
-1.65%
were up 1.9% in premarket trading on Thursday after the drugmaker beat expectations for the quarter. The company had a loss of $739 million, or 46 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2020. It had reported a gain of $807 million, or 49 cents a share, in the same quarter in 2019. Adjusted earnings per share were $2.34, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.20. Sales increased to $10.4 billion in the quarter compared with $8.2 billion in the period a year ago. The FactSet consensus for revenue for the quarter was $9.9 billion. The increase in sales was driven in part by strong performance from its immunology business, which includes its top-selling drug, Humira. The immunology business saw revenue rise by 8.1% to $5.1 billion over the last three months. AbbVie in early May closed its acquisition of Allergan; it also said that sales of the cosmetic filler Botox, a longtime Allergan brand, tumbled 43.1% to $226 million as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It issued EPS guidance, including Allergan, for 2020 of $4.12 to $4.22. AbbVie’s stock has gained 8.4% since the start of the year, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.07%
is up 0.5%.