AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) stock traded mostly steady to slightly higher on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, as investors balanced a holiday-shortened trading week with a fresh burst of company-specific pipeline headlines and ongoing debate about U.S. drug-pricing policy. As of Tuesday afternoon, ABBV changed hands around $228.62, up about 0.31% on the day, after trading in a $227.88–$230.77 range.
What stands out on Dec. 23 is less about a single blockbuster “breaking” announcement and more about a cluster of signals—pipeline ambition in aesthetics and therapeutics, late-stage movement in eye care, and the ever-present question for long-term holders: how durable is AbbVie’s post-Humira growth engine?
Below is a comprehensive roundup of the key news, forecasts, and analyses circulating on Dec. 23, 2025, and what they may mean for ABBV heading into 2026.
ABBV headlines on Dec. 23, 2025: the three storylines investors are watching
1) “Beyond Botox”: AbbVie expands its neurotoxin R&D ambitions
A notable piece of industry coverage published Tuesday focuses on AbbVie’s effort to broaden its neurotoxin franchise beyond Botox—both to defend its aesthetics leadership and to open new therapeutic pathways.
In a Dec. 23 report, PharmaVoice said AbbVie is advancing two “next-generation” neurotoxins across therapeutic and aesthetic use cases, including AGN-151607 (described as moving toward trials next year in areas such as ventral hernia repair and essential tremor) and TrenibotE, which AbbVie has positioned as a faster-onset, shorter-duration aesthetic option aimed at glabellar lines. [1]
The strategic subtext matters for the stock: AbbVie has been navigating softer demand and tougher competition in aesthetics, and it has openly acknowledged recent execution challenges in that business line. PharmaVoice also tied the push to broader efforts to stabilize or re-accelerate the aesthetics segment after recent stumbles. [2]
Why it matters for ABBV stock:
AbbVie’s core growth narrative still leans heavily on immunology (Skyrizi and Rinvoq), but investors also care about whether aesthetics becomes a steady cash generator again—or a recurring drag on sentiment and estimates. A credible “next wave” neurotoxin pipeline can help, but it’s a multi-year story.
2) A fresh Wall Street-style head-to-head: ABBV vs. AstraZeneca
On the market-analysis front, one of the most widely circulated ABBV pieces Tuesday came via Nasdaq, publishing a Zacks comparative analysis: “ABBV vs. AZN: Which Pharma Stock is the Better Investment Now?” (timestamped Dec. 23, 2025). [3]
The article makes a bullish case for AbbVie’s recovery after Humira’s U.S. loss of exclusivity, emphasizing that:
- Combined sales of Skyrizi + Rinvoq have surged 53% year over year to $18.5 billion so far in 2025, and AbbVie expects combined sales to exceed $25 billion in 2025. [4]
- AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio (including Botox Therapeutic, Vraylar, Ubrelvy and Qulipta in the write-up) rose more than 20% to nearly $7.8 billion in the first nine months of 2025, per the same analysis. [5]
- The Zacks piece also flags ongoing near-term headwinds: continued Humira erosion, oncology pressure (including Imbruvica), and weaker aesthetics demand. [6]
It also points to valuation and revisions—two topics that tend to move sentiment even when there’s no major clinical readout:
- Zacks’ consensus view in the piece indicates ABBV 2025 sales and EPS imply YoY growth of 8.2% and 5.1%, while ABBV’s 2025 EPS estimate moved down over the past 60 days (from $11.04 to $10.64 in the article’s cited figures). [7]
- On price performance, it states ABBV shares are up about 28% year to date (as of publication). [8]
Why it matters for ABBV stock:
Even when investors are long-term fundamental buyers, large-cap pharma trades on a mix of growth durability, estimate revisions, and policy risk. A “post-Humira” leader narrative can hold—until estimate revisions turn against it.
3) Eye-care pipeline watch: ABBV-444 enters the conversation
A second Dec. 23 item investors are seeing in their feeds is an update tied to AbbVie’s eye-care ambitions.
A TipRanks clinical-trials newsdesk update published Tuesday highlights AbbVie’s phase 3 study of ABBV-444, an artificial tear formulation being compared to Refresh Optive Unit Dose in adults with dry eye disease. The write-up describes a multicenter, randomized, double-masked design with treatment lasting 90 days, and notes the trial’s regulatory record shows a submission date in early December and an update dated Dec. 22, 2025. [9]
Why it matters for ABBV stock:
Dry eye is a large, competitive category where AbbVie doesn’t need ABBV-444 to be a “mega-blockbuster” for it to matter. Investors typically like small-to-mid pipeline additions that can diversify revenue away from the two-drug immunology engine—especially if the product profile supports recurring usage.
The policy overhang: U.S. drug pricing remains in focus
Beyond company-specific updates, AbbVie remains part of a broader political and regulatory storyline that has hovered over big pharma for years—and has resurfaced sharply in late 2025.
A Reuters report dated Dec. 17 said AbbVie and several other pharma companies were expected to be close to agreements with the U.S. government connected to President Donald Trump’s “most-favored-nation” (MFN) pricing initiative, aimed at lowering certain U.S. prescription drug prices. [10]
Why it matters for ABBV stock:
Even without a single “ABBV-specific” policy headline on Dec. 23, the sector can re-rate quickly when investors think price controls will be tighter—or when they believe a policy risk has been “cleared” or softened.
AbbVie stock forecast and analyst price targets on Dec. 23, 2025
What Wall Street targets imply
Analyst targets remain broadly constructive, with most datasets implying single-digit percentage upside from Tuesday’s trading range—though the spread between bullish and cautious targets is wide.
- MarketBeat’s summary of 12-month targets shows an average price target of $245.84 across 24 analysts, with a high of $289 and low of $194 (roughly ~7–8% implied upside from around $228). [11]
- MarketWatch’s analyst snapshot (updated early Dec. 23) shows an even wider dispersion, listing targets ranging from $203 (low) to $328 (high), with a median near $247.50. [12]
Recent notable target changes investors still reference
Even if they didn’t happen on Dec. 23, several December target moves continue to frame sentiment:
- HSBC upgraded AbbVie to Buy and raised its price target to $265 (reported in mid-December coverage). [13]
- BofA cut its price target on AbbVie to $233 from $248 while maintaining a Neutral stance (reported about a week before Dec. 23). [14]
How to read this mix:
When upgrades and target cuts coexist in the same month, it usually signals a stock transitioning from “undervalued recovery” to “quality compounder priced more fairly.” Bulls tend to focus on the durability of Skyrizi/Rinvoq and the dividend; bears tend to focus on policy risk, competition, and the cost of pipeline-building.
Fundamentals check: what’s powering AbbVie after Humira
Skyrizi + Rinvoq remain the center of gravity
The core bull thesis remains straightforward: AbbVie’s “new immunology” pair is replacing Humira faster than many investors originally expected.
The Zacks analysis published Tuesday states Skyrizi and Rinvoq combined sales are up 53% year over year to $18.5 billion so far in 2025, and it reiterates AbbVie’s expectation that combined sales will exceed $25 billion in 2025. [15]
In addition, a Reuters report earlier this year highlighted how market exclusivity timing can change the long-term story for these assets—reporting in September that AbbVie expected no U.S. generic competition for Rinvoq until 2037, an extension that analysts viewed as meaningful for the company’s long-range planning. [16]
The portfolio is broader than immunology—but not all segments are equally strong
The same Dec. 23 Zacks write-up emphasizes that oncology and neuroscience are contributing to growth, but it does not ignore the soft spots—particularly aesthetics. [17]
Those cross-currents showed up in third-quarter reporting as well. Barron’s coverage of AbbVie’s Q3 results noted:
- Adjusted EPS of $1.86 (above expectations cited in the article),
- Revenue of $15.78 billion (+9.1% YoY in that summary),
- Aesthetics revenue down (and AbbVie raising its full-year adjusted earnings guidance range in that report). [18]
(For readers: quarter-to-quarter comparisons can be noisy in pharma because of one-time collaboration charges and acquisition-related accounting—so investors typically watch trends across multiple quarters.)
Pipeline and dealmaking: AbbVie keeps buying time and optionality
AbbVie’s long-term equity story increasingly includes business development as a feature, not a bug. The Zacks analysis published Tuesday states AbbVie has executed more than 30 M&A transactions since the beginning of 2024, as it strengthens its early-stage pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas. [19]
One of 2025’s larger pipeline moves was AbbVie’s agreement to acquire Capstan Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $2.1 billion, aimed at strengthening its pipeline (including cell-therapy approaches for autoimmune disease), according to Reuters. [20]
On the company’s own pipeline disclosures, AbbVie says its R&D portfolio includes ~90 programs in development (including collaborations), with ~60 in mid and late-stage development, and it reports $10.8 billion in R&D investment in 2024 (pipeline page updated Sept. 8, 2025). [21]
What investors debate here:
- Bulls argue dealmaking reduces the “patent cliff” profile in the 2030s by constantly feeding the pipeline.
- Skeptics argue frequent deals can pressure near-term earnings through IPR&D charges and integration costs—especially when the stock has already rerated higher.
Dividend watch: AbbVie remains a major income stock in healthcare
AbbVie’s dividend continues to be a key support for long-term shareholder demand.
- MarketBeat lists AbbVie’s next quarterly dividend as $1.73 per share, payable Feb. 17, 2026, with an ex-dividend date of Jan. 16, 2026. [22]
- Barron’s coverage of Q3 results also referenced AbbVie raising the quarterly dividend to $1.73. [23]
For income-focused investors, the practical question isn’t just yield—it’s whether the company can keep growing the dividend while also funding pipeline expansion and navigating pricing pressure.
What to watch next for ABBV stock
Here are the most important near-term catalysts investors typically track from here:
- Next earnings date (Q4 / full-year update)
Several market calendars estimate AbbVie’s next earnings report around Jan. 30, 2026 (not yet a confirmed company announcement in these listings). [24] - U.S. drug-pricing headlines and MFN negotiations
Any formalized framework or new announcements tied to drug pricing could move the entire large-cap pharma group quickly, including AbbVie. [25] - Aesthetics stabilization and “next-gen toxin” progress
Investors will watch whether AbbVie’s “beyond Botox” pipeline translates into clear development milestones and whether aesthetics stops being a recurring question mark. [26] - Incremental pipeline diversification (eye care, oncology, neuroscience)
Updates tied to late-stage eye care work like ABBV-444, plus additional business development, can help reinforce the narrative that AbbVie is building a broader growth base. [27]
Bottom line
On Dec. 23, 2025, AbbVie stock is trading in a calm range—but the news flow is quietly active: a high-profile industry look at AbbVie’s neurotoxin ambitions beyond Botox, a widely syndicated Wall Street-style analysis reinforcing the Skyrizi/Rinvoq growth story (while acknowledging aesthetics and acquisition costs as headwinds), and an eye-care pipeline item that adds another “small but potentially useful” diversification path. [28]
For ABBV investors heading into 2026, the big question remains whether AbbVie can keep delivering a rare trifecta in large-cap pharma: durable growth, a rising dividend, and enough pipeline depth to reduce long-term patent cliff anxiety—all while navigating a policy environment that can reprice the sector overnight. [29]
References
1. www.pharmavoice.com, 2. www.pharmavoice.com, 3. www.nasdaq.com, 4. www.nasdaq.com, 5. www.nasdaq.com, 6. www.nasdaq.com, 7. www.nasdaq.com, 8. www.nasdaq.com, 9. www.tipranks.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.marketbeat.com, 12. www.marketwatch.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. finance.yahoo.com, 15. www.nasdaq.com, 16. www.reuters.com, 17. www.nasdaq.com, 18. www.barrons.com, 19. www.nasdaq.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.abbvie.com, 22. www.marketbeat.com, 23. www.barrons.com, 24. www.nasdaq.com, 25. www.reuters.com, 26. www.pharmavoice.com, 27. www.tipranks.com, 28. www.pharmavoice.com, 29. www.reuters.com
