AbbVie Raises 2026 EPS Guidance to $13.95-$13.99 as Skyrizi and Rinvoq Fuel Q3 Beat, Dividend Hiked 5.2%

AbbVie reported third-quarter 2026 results that beat on earnings and sales, according to Zacks Equity Research, and the company raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook while its board approved a 5.2% increase to the quarterly dividend. The improved guidance and higher payout came alongside continued strength in the company's immunology franchise, led by Skyrizi and Rinvoq, according to AbbVie's third-quarter earnings release and management's remarks on the earnings call.

Guidance Raise and the IPR&D Drag

AbbVie raised its 2026 adjusted diluted EPS guidance range from $13.76-$13.96 to $13.95-$13.99. The new range includes a $0.69 per share unfavorable impact from acquired in-process research and development (IPR&D) and milestones expense incurred year-to-date through the third quarter of 2026, the company said. That nine-month charge totaled $1.3 billion on a pre-tax basis and $1.2 billion after-tax. Of that total, $0.11 per share, or $216 million pre-tax and $205 million after-tax, was recorded in the third quarter alone, according to AbbVie's release.

Notably, the guidance excludes any IPR&D and milestones expense that may be incurred beyond the third quarter of 2026, because AbbVie says such amounts cannot be reliably forecasted. That caveat means the final full-year EPS figure could still move depending on additional licensing or acquisition-related charges booked in the fourth quarter.

The scale of this year's IPR&D impact is smaller than a year earlier. In the same nine-month period of 2025, acquired IPR&D and milestones expense totaled $3.8 billion pre-tax and $3.6 billion after-tax, a $2.05 per share hit, or nearly three times this year's $0.69 figure ($2.05 ÷ $0.69 ≈ 2.97). The gap between the two ($2.05 minus $0.69) is $1.36 per share, a comparison AbbVie did not spell out directly but one that follows from the disclosed figures. As an interpretation of those numbers, a smaller IPR&D charge mechanically supports a higher reported EPS figure even before accounting for underlying operating performance.

Skyrizi and Rinvoq Drive Immunology Outlook

Management also raised its full-year Skyrizi sales guidance for the third time in 2026, according to remarks on the company's earnings call transcribed by StockAnalysis. AbbVie now expects global immunology sales of $34.9 billion for the year, assuming Skyrizi revenue of $21.8 billion and Rinvoq revenue of $10.3 billion, reflecting increases for both brands based on continued strong momentum, the company said on the call. Interpreting those disclosures, the repeated upward revisions to Skyrizi guidance over the course of the year point to immunology as a central driver of the improved full-year outlook, while the $0.69 per share IPR&D and milestones impact is disclosed in AbbVie's release as a separate, quantified line item within guidance.

Dividend Hike Continues a Multiyear Pattern

Separately, AbbVie's board declared an increase in the quarterly cash dividend from $1.73 per share to $1.82 per share, a rise of approximately 5.2%, beginning with the dividend payable February 16, 2027, to shareholders of record as of January 15, 2027. The company noted that since its 2013 inception, it has raised its quarterly dividend by 355%, according to the earnings release.

This increase extends a steady pattern of annual hikes. According to Yahoo Finance, the quarterly dividend rose from $1.41 per share in 2022 to $1.48 in 2023, $1.55 in 2024, and $1.64 in 2025, before reaching $1.73 with the February 2026 payment, an increase of about 5.5% at that time. The newly announced move to $1.82 is modestly smaller in percentage terms than last year's increase but continues the multi-year trajectory of annual raises.

Market Reaction

Shares of AbbVie traded higher following the earnings report and guidance revision. According to Zacks Equity Research, published via Yahoo Finance, the stock was trading higher during Friday's regular trading session, likely driven by the encouraging guidance revision and continued strength in the immunology and neuroscience franchises, and has gained over 27% year to date compared with the industry's nearly 23% growth over the same period.

Bottom Line

AbbVie's Q3 2026 results combined a modest EPS guidance raise with a familiar dividend increase, both underpinned by continued growth in Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The $0.69 per-share IPR&D and milestones charge embedded in the new guidance is a smaller drag than the $2.05 per-share hit recorded over the same nine-month stretch last year, a dynamic that helps explain part of the improved outlook even as the company's own disclosures point primarily to immunology strength as the operational driver. Investors should note that AbbVie's guidance explicitly excludes any IPR&D expense that could still arrive in the fourth quarter, leaving some uncertainty around the final reported full-year figure.