NEW YORK, July 2, 2026, 18:01 EDT
- AbbVie ended the session up 3.99% at $261.07 after hitting a 52-week high of $261.64.
- The gain tacked on roughly $17.8 billion in estimated equity, topping the Apogee deal’s $10.9 billion value.
- The stock closed above some average analyst targets. That puts extra focus on July 31 earnings.
- U.S. exchanges will stay closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.
AbbVie Inc. NYSE:ABBV jumped about $17.8 billion in market cap Thursday, outpacing the value of the deal that’s driving a fresh look at the drugmaker from investors. Shares closed up 3.99% at $261.07 after hitting a 52-week high of $261.64, with the move coming off a $10.01 gain on roughly 1.77 billion shares outstanding.
Valuation is the less obvious story here. AbbVie closed above the 12-month target from Investing.com’s 28-analyst average of $256.14, the $258.28 three-month average target from Google Finance, and RBC Capital’s $260 call. So now it’s not about the stock catching up to analyst targets. The focus turns to whether analysts raise their numbers before or after the July 31 Q2 call.
| Reference point | Value | Gap to AbbVie close |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday finish | $261.07 | — |
| RBC Capital price target | $260.00 | AbbVie up 0.4% |
| Investing.com consensus target | $256.14 | AbbVie up 1.9% |
| Google Finance consensus | $258.28 | AbbVie up 1.1% |
| GuruFocus valuation | $211.72 | AbbVie up 23.3% |
| Apogee deal valuation | $10.9 billion | Single day value gain is about 1.6x the deal value |
The rally shifted after the Apogee Therapeutics Inc. NASDAQ:APGE deal. AbbVie said on June 22 it would acquire Apogee at $135.11 a share in cash, putting the value near $10.9 billion. The deal is set to close in the third quarter, pending shareholder and regulatory sign-off. AbbVie said the acquisition is expected to boost adjusted diluted EPS starting in 2032.
J.P. Morgan’s Chris Schott said the deal should go over well with investors focused on late-stage growth names. RBC’s Brian Abrahams told Reuters the “deal makes sense” and called AbbVie the “ideal acquirer” for Apogee’s lead drug. Reuters
AbbVie CEO Robert Michael said the buyout was an “excellent fit” and described Apogee’s pipeline as having “mega-blockbuster” sales potential, meaning more than $10 billion a year in sales for AbbVie. Apogee CEO Michael Henderson said in the joint statement the deal “delivers substantial shareholder value.” PR Newswire
| Thursday market check | Price/level | Move |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie NYSE:ABBV | $261.07 | up 3.99% |
| Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLV) | $163.74 | rose 2.65% |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) | $744.78 | off 0.11% |
| S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) | 7,483.24 | unchanged |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) | 52,900.07 | added 1.14% |
| Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) | 25,832.67 | slipped 0.80% |
The stock outperformed most big drug names on a positive day for health care. MarketWatch data had Johnson & Johnson NYSE:JNJ up 3.57%, Pfizer NYSE:PFE rising 1.84%, and Amgen NASDAQ:AMGN gaining 3.55%. AbbVie saw 6.8 million shares traded, under its 50-day average of 7.3 million.
The real question for shareholders isn’t whether Apogee patches a gap. It does. Humira’s slide left Skyrizi and Rinvoq as AbbVie’s key growth drivers after Humira, and Q1 numbers showed Skyrizi sales rising 30.9% to $4.483 billion, and Rinvoq up 23.3% to $2.119 billion. Humira dropped 38.6% to $688 million.
RBC said in a note Wednesday that hedge-fund bearish bets had come down after Q1, and the Apogee deal changed up the immunology side. Still, the bank said the main driver for momentum is whether Q2 Skyrizi and Rinvoq sales beat consensus.
AbbVie plans to post its Q2 numbers before the bell on July 31, with its earnings call set for 8 a.m. Central. This call could be a tougher one, as the shares already seem to reflect deal benefits, a better outlook for immunology, and some recent analyst price target hikes.
It’s after the NYSE’s regular close at 4 p.m. Eastern. NYSE and Nasdaq calendars list U.S. stock markets closed Friday, July 3, for the Independence Day holiday. Monday will be the next normal trading session.
