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Drugs maker AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) has raised its guidance for the year after it more than doubled earnings in the third quarter.
The company, overshadowed of late about concerns over patents for its blockbuster medicine Humira that expire towards the end of 2016, posted net income of US$1.24bn, up from US$506mln in the third quarter of last year.
Earnings per share (EPS) on a reported basis were 74 cents, up from 31 cents a year ago, and clocked in at US$1.13 per share with various exceptional charges excluded, which was five cents above the consensus forecast.
The company now expects full-year EPS will be in the range of US$4.26-US$4.28, way up the top end of the previous range of US$4.10-US$4.30.
For the next fiscal year, AbbVie is indicating EPS should be somewhere between US$4.90 and US$5.10, pretty much in line with market expectations of US$4.95.
Revenue was up 18.4% from a year earlier at US$5.94bn and surpassed analysts expectations of turnover of US$5.89bn.
AbbVie is targeting total annual sales of around US$37bn in 2020, almost half of which are expected to come from the anti-inflammatory treatment Humira.
The company said it is on track to launch more than 20 new products or indications by the end of 2020.
The quarterly dividend was hiked to 57 cents from 51 cents the year before.
Broker Jefferies said the long-term guidance of US$37bn of sales by 2020 was well ahead of Wall Street estimates, but was £200mln or so below the broker's own forecast.
The EPS guidance was ahead of consensus but was less than Jefferies was expecting for 2016, probably as a result of a lower contribution from the highly profitable HCV franchise.
The market consensus forecast for 2015 EPS is US$4.93, whereas Jefferies, which rates the shares a 'buy', is going for US$5.35.
The shares were sharply higher, up 10.3% at US$59.69, in mid-morning trades.