Credit Suisse Leaves AbbVie Management Meeting Feeling Optimistic

Two analysts from Credit Suisse met with members of the management team from AbbVie Inc ABBV including the CEO and CFO. They inquired about the recent Stemcentrx acquisition and AbbVie’s oncology franchise. They left the meeting feeling “more comfortable” with the long-term prospects for the company.

One area of interest was the outlook for AbbVie’s flagship product, Humira. Humira has been in the news lately due to Amgen, Inc. AMGN’s biosimilar product, but Credit Suisse said it expects AbbVie to file suit against Amgen, likely in the third quarter.

Management believes that once investors are able to appreciate fully the protection AbbVie has around Humira, they’ll be confident that biosimilars won’t enter the U.S. market until around 2022.

Credit Suisse holds an Outperform rating on AbbVie with a $67 price target, representing 14 percent upside from where shares closed Monday.