Morgan Stanley analyst David Risinger said the USPTO's denial of Amgen's (AMGN) request for an inter partes review of AbbVie (ABBV) patents was a "surprising positive" for Humira, though he added that it is unclear how biosimilar challengers such as Novartis' (NVS) Sandoz and others would be impacted by this ruling. An IPR decision for biosimilar challengers is due on May 18, but could come earlier, said Risinger, who thinks AbbVie could see meaningful upside if the PTAB does not institute a review in that case. The analyst keeps an Overweight rating on AbbVie shares.

Global net revenues from the immunology portfolio were $5.371B, a decrease of 3.9 percent on a reported basis, or 3.1 percent on an operational basis, due to Humira biosimilar competition. Global Humira net revenues of $2.270 billion decreased 35.9 percent on a reported basis, or 35.2 percent on an operational basis. U.S. Humira net revenues were $1.771 billion, a decrease of 39.9 percent. Internationally, Humira net revenues were $499 million, a decrease of 15.8 percent on a reported basis, or 11.6 percent on an operational basis. Global Skyrizi net revenues were $2.008 billion, an increase of 47.6 percent on a reported basis, or 48.0 percent on an operational basis. Global Rinvoq net revenues were $1.093 billion, an increase of 59.3 percent on a reported basis, or 61.9 percent on an operational basis.

FY24 consensus $11.10.

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Exxon Mobil (XOM), consensus $2.20... Chevron (CVX), consensus $2.87... AbbVie (ABBV), consensus $2.23... HCA Healthcare (HCA), consensus $5.01... Colgate-Palmolive (CL), consensus 81c... Charter (CHTR), consensus $7.92... AutoNation (AN), consensus $4.27.

AbbVie announced positive topline results from LEVEL UP, an open-label, efficacy assessor-blinded head-to-head Phase 3b/4 study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib versus dupilumab in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who had an inadequate response to systemic therapy or when use of those therapies was inadvisable. In the LEVEL UP study, upadacitinib showed superior efficacy versus dupilumab in the primary endpoint, demonstrating that a significantly higher proportion of patients simultaneously achieved both a 90% or greater reduction in Eczema Area and Severity Index and a Worst Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale of 0 or 1 at Week 16.

TD Cowen analyst Yaron Werber raised the firm's price target on BeiGene (BGNE) to $236 from $235 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm updated its model to reflect lower collaborative revenue given termination of Novartis (NVS) agreement for tisle in Sep 2023.