AbbVie beats Street 3Q forecasts, gets a lift from Humira

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. (AP) - AbbVie's third-quarter earnings more than doubled, beating analyst expectations as sales of the blockbuster anti-inflammatory Humira inflated the drugmaker's top line despite a hit from foreign exchange rates.

The North Chicago, Illinois-based company's stock climbed more than 10 percent in morning trading Friday.

AbbVie said Humira sales climbed 12 percent to $3.65 billion and would have climbed 19 percent without a hit from currency rates. The drugmaker relies on Humira for most of its revenue.

Humira is approved to treat more than a dozen conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn's Disease. But, it will start losing patent protection next year and could eventually face competition from Amgen Inc., which is developing a biosimilar version of the drug.

Overall, AbbVie earned $1.24 billion in the quarter, up from $506 million last year.

Adjusted earnings in the most recent quarter totaled $1.13 per share. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.07 per share.

Revenue surged 18 percent to $5.94 billion, which topped average analyst expectations for $5.89 billion.

The drugmaker also tightened its 2015 outlook to $4.26 to $4.28 per share from a range of $4.10 to $4.30 that it had forecast in late July.

Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $4.24 per share.

AbbVie shares rose $5.76, or 10.7 percent, to $59.86 in morning trading. The stock had fallen 17 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased 1.5 percent.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ABBV at http://www.zacks.com/ap/ABBV

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Keywords: AbbVie, Earnings Report

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