ABBV AbbVie Inc

By Dave Sebastian

AbbVie Inc. said its profit and sales for the first quarter rose as customers stocked up amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The biopharmaceutical company on Friday posted net income of $3.01 billion, or $2.02 a share, compared with $2.46 billion, or $1.65 a share, in the comparable quarter last year.

Adjusted earnings were $2.42 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting adjusted earnings of $2.25 a share.

Revenue was $8.62 billion, up from $7.83 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts were expecting $8.33 billion.

Global sales of Humira, a drug used to treat diseases from rheumatoid arthritis to gut disorders, rose 5.8%. Sales of the drug increased 13.7% in the U.S.

Research and development expenses rose to $1.38 billion from $1.29 billion in the year-ago period.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2020 08:14 ET (12:14 GMT)

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