Will AbbVie's Oncology Drugs Aid Top Line in 2026?

AbbVie ABBV has built a significant presence in the oncology space. While the majority of the revenues are generated from blood cancer drugs Imbruvica and Venclexta, the company has diversified its offerings with newer drugs — Epkinly (for lymphoma), Elahere (for ovarian cancer) and Emrelis (for lung cancer) — that could contribute meaningfully to future revenues.

Sales of the oncology segment totaled $6.66 billion in 2025, accounting for roughly 11% of AbbVie’s total revenues. The metric rose 1.4% year over year on a reported basis, primarily driven by the growing sales of Venclexta, Epkinly and Elahere. Though Emrelis' sales were modest, it contributed positively to the top line, considering the drug was approved last year in May. This growth was partially offset by the continued decline in Imbruvica sales amid rising competition from novel oral therapies.

In 2026, oncology sales are expected to be $6.5 billion, indicating a decline from the year-ago period levels. AbbVie attributed this fall to lower IRA-related pricing on Imbruvica, which is expected to hurt oncology sales. The drop will be partially offset by the rising sales of other drugs in the portfolio.

To mitigate these pressures, AbbVie is strengthening its oncology portfolio through newer modalities, particularly antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which are considered a disruptive innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. ADCs enable more targeted cancer treatment by harnessing the precision of antibodies to deliver cytotoxic drugs directly to tumors.

AbbVie currently has two ADCs in its commercial portfolio — Elahere and Emrelis — and a regulatory filing is under FDA review for a third ADC therapy, pivekimab sunirine, to treat a rare blood cancer called blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm. The company is developing another investigational ADC, Temab-A (formerly ABBV-400), in a late-stage study for metastatic colorectal cancer and in separate mid-stage studies for gastroesophageal and lung cancers.

Beyond ADCs, AbbVie is advancing multiple oncology therapies. A key candidate in the pipeline is etentamig (ABBV-383), a BCMA x CD3 bispecific being evaluated in a late-stage study for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The company is conducting label-expansion studies on its approved products to further strengthen its oncology footprint.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Other large players in the oncology segment are AstraZeneca AZN, Merck MRK and Pfizer PFE.

For AstraZeneca, oncology sales now account for 44% of total revenues. Sales in its oncology segment rose 14% year over year in 2025, driven by strong performance of medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo).

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1 inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounted for roughly 49% of MRK’s total revenues in 2025.

Pfizer’s oncology revenues grew 8% in 2025, driven by drugs like Xtandi, Lorbrena, the Braftovi-Mektovi combination and Padcev. The segment now accounts for nearly 27% of Pfizer’s total revenues.

ABBV’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of AbbVie have underperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.

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From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is trading at a discount to the industry. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 14.23 times forward earnings compared to the industry's average of 16.73. The stock is trading above its five-year mean of 13.79.

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Movements in EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have been mixed in the past 30 days.

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AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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