Stifel analyst Adam Walsh notes that in "a bold move" likely to be well received by the Street, Reata Pharmaceuticals (RETA) reacquired ex-U.S. rights to BARD, OMAV, and other Nrf2 activators from AbbVie (ABBV) for total deal consideration of $330M. Given AbbVie's lack of a significant renal franchise, the reacquisition of ex-U.S. BARD rights restores strategic flexibility to Reata and provides the opportunity to either find a more engaging development partner, go it alone ex-U.S., or sell the company outright, he contends. Further, the analyst believes the deal terms look "highly reasonable" relative to potential ex-U.S. BARD sales. Walsh has a Buy rating and $135 price target on Reata's shares.

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.