AbbVie price target lowered to $294 from $299 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on AbbVie (ABBV) to $294 from $299 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares ahead of quarterly results. The firm says AbbVie has become a bit controversial, but Piper is making a case for why there is no need for worry. The worry on AbbVie, as the firm sees it, is driven in part by the rollout of oral IL-23-directed treatment Icotyde by Jonhson & Johnson (JNJ) in the psoriasis setting, and how it could impact the trajectory of Skyrizi. Piper would expect that Icotyde will likely expand the overall footprint of the IL-23 category; Skyrizi penetration in inflammatory bowel disease is still quite low; and though consensus estimates on Skyrizi may have caught up with its growth trajectory, there are other parts of the business where that is not the case.