Signal Ledger valuation · ABBV
AbbVie Inc.
What the shares are worth today on our research (management’s own targets for each business): every line valued at the end of FY2030, net debt rolled forward, then discounted back to Jun 30, 2026.
- Business value at FY2030
- $413B
- FY2030 revenue
- $89B
- FY2030 EPS · P/E
- $10.48 · 19×
- Discount rate (WACC · equity)
- 7.73% · 8.33%
Latest quarter in this research: Q2 2026
Reported Jul 31, 2026 for the quarter to Jun 30, 2026 (company release ↗). This valuation already reflects these results (researched Oct 23, 2026).
| Segment | Revenue | vs a year ago | Operating income | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbbVie (single reportable segment) | $17.0B | +10% | $6.43B | 37.9% |
- Skyrizi 5.505B and Rinvoq 2.525B offset Humira 0.756B, down 35.9%.
- GAAP operating margin 37.9%; adjusted 48.3% is a separate definition.
- Adjusted EPS guidance 13.87-14.07 in July is superseded by October 5 acquiredIPR&D update; neither is used as an EBIT margin.
- Q3 results scheduled October 30; October 5 is a charge update, not a reported full quarter.
What each business is worth
| Business | Model | FY2030 revenue | Value today | Per share | 2030 multiple | Value from beyond FY2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbbVie medicines and aesthetics | Margin | $89B | $358B | $202.83 | 16.3× EBIT | 66% |
| All businesses | $89B | $358B | $202.83 |
From 2030 back to today
- Enterprise value at end of FY2030$413B
- Less net debt at FY2030$54B
- Equity value at FY2030$360B
- ÷ (1 + 8.33%)^4.5 years at the cost of equity$251B
- + dividends paid on the way, discounted$46B
This reconciliation checks the published Signal Ledger valuation against the net-debt path. The difference is 0.8%, inside our 5% tolerance.
From businesses to one share
- All businesses, valued today$358B
- − borrowings$71B
- − finance leases$0B
- − preferred and minority claims$0B
- + cash and short-term investments$6.6B
- ÷ diluted shares1.767B
- Signal Ledger valuation$166.44
Year by year to FY2030
| Fiscal year | Revenue | EBITDA | Capex | Free cash flow | Net debt at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $67B | $17B | $1.3B | $13B | $65B |
| FY2027 | $72B | $19B | $1.4B | $14B | $65B |
| FY2028 | $77B | $22B | $1.5B | $16B | $63B |
| FY2029 | $83B | $24B | $1.6B | $18B | $59B |
| FY2030 | $89B | $26B | $1.8B | $20B | $54B |
What must be true
- AbbVie medicines and aesthetics grows revenue from $67.4B in FY2026 to $88.6B in FY2030 (1.3×).
- AbbVie medicines and aesthetics raises its EBIT margin from 24.6% to 28.6%.
- The company spends $7.7B of capital expenditure through FY2030.
- Net debt peaks at $65.0B in FY2026 and stays financeable.
What the price implies
To reach $285.19 at our discount rate, AbbVie Inc. would need about $144.8B of FY2030 sales (growth of about 21.1% a year from FY2026) with 28.6% GAAP EBIT margin — versus $88.6B and 28.6% GAAP EBIT margin in our research.
At the research price of $285.19 (2026-10-23), the price asks more than our assumptions overall. These are operating requirements at that price, not additional valuations or forecasts.
If sales and margins changed together
Each row matches the same research price at our unchanged discount rate, by scaling every operating line's margin by one common factor. Sales cover margin and capacity lines only; other valuation lines stay fixed. Margins are revenue-weighted within each metric, before separately modeled corporate costs and eliminations. The conclusion uses the row at our research margins when sales alone can match the price, otherwise the solved row needing the least sales growth; this is a trade-off between growth and profitability, not a forecast.
| FY2030 sales factor | FY2030 sales | FY2026–30 CAGR | Required FY2030 margin | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.50× | $133B | 18.5% | 31.0% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 1.63×At research margins | $144.8B | 21.1% | 28.6% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 2.00× | $177.3B | 27.4% | 23.8% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 3.00× | $265.9B | 40.9% | 16.3% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
CAGR uses $67.4B of same-scope FY2026 sales from the published model or its sourced research base, over four fiscal years. “Within margin guardrails” checks numeric limits only, not commercial plausibility. Each line and year must stay at or below 50.0% GAAP EBIT and 100% EBITDA, or our research margin where that is higher; capacity EBIT uses the engine's equipment depreciation. Unsolved margins are not extrapolated.
- Implied discount rate
- 5.7%
- All-business FY2030 sales factor
- 1.63×
The WACC that makes model value equal the price, shifting WACC and cost of equity by the same amount. Model: 7.7% WACC · 8.3% cost of equity.
FY2030 revenue would need to reach $144.8B (model: $88.6B) across the margin and capacity businesses. FY1 stays fixed; the sales change ramps to FY2030 and stays at that factor thereafter.
If only one business changed
Businesses with margin or capacity revenue paths, ordered by value today. Revenue and margin are separate alternatives; these requirements are not added together.
AbbVie medicines and aesthetics
- Revenue alone
- FY2030 revenue would need to reach $141.5B (model: $88.6B).
- Margin alone
FY2030 EBIT margin would need to reach 44.9% (model: 28.6%).
Mechanical requirements, not forecasts. The separate sales-only and single-business factors are searched from 0.1× to 6×; an unsolved comparison means this business alone cannot get there within those bounds. Single-business revenue changes apply from FY2 onward; margin changes scale the full EBIT or EBITDA margin path. Mixed groups show revenue-weighted EBIT and EBITDA margins separately. Requirements above 100% are not feasible margins. Joint rows instead search non-negative uniform margin factors only up to the EBIT/EBITDA guardrails; the entire margin path scales, including post-FY2030 convergence. Sales and margins change together only in that table. The rate search runs from the largest terminal growth rate plus 0.5 percentage points to 30% WACC.
The discount rate
- Cost of equity
- 8.33%
- WACC
- 7.73%
- 10-year Treasury · model / spot
- 3.87% · 5.13%
r_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 0.89 = 0.8 floor relevered for debt/equity 0.14 (§4.5 leverage rule) × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp)
methodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded
The model uses the recorded 5-year average Treasury yield. The spot yield is shown for context.
Every input, with its source
Show 14 inputs · reported, guidance and rule-based
| Input | Value | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue FY2026AbbVie medicines and aesthetics | $67.4B | Reported | target (methodology §4.2), growth 10.2% news.abbvie.com ↗ |
| Revenue FY2030AbbVie medicines and aesthetics | $88.6B | Guidance | hold moderate (methodology §4.2), growth 7.1% news.abbvie.com ↗ |
| EBIT margin FY2030AbbVie medicines and aesthetics | 28.6% | Rule | linear path to 28.6% by FY2030 (§4.3 E2: 4.0000 points = 4pp × clamp((CAGR − 1.5%) / 2%, 0, 1); revenue CAGR 7.7% to FY2030; no cited expansion evidence) investors.abbvie.com ↗ |
| Maintenance capexAbbVie medicines and aesthetics | 2.0% | Reported | FY2025 PP&E capex 1.214B / revenue 61.160B. investors.abbvie.com ↗ |
| Terminal growthAbbVie medicines and aesthetics | 2.0% | Rule | methodology §4.2 terminal growth for a mature line Valuation methodology §4.2 · Read methodology ↗ |
| WACCDiscount rates | 7.73% | Rule | methodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded FRED DGS10 2021-10-20..2026-10-21 |
| Cost of equityDiscount rates | 8.33% | Rule | r_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 0.89 = 0.8 floor relevered for debt/equity 0.14 (§4.5 leverage rule) × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp) 60 monthly returns vs SPY, 2021-09..2026-09 (adjusted closes) |
| Tax rateDiscount rates | 18.9% | Reported | Replace distorted 3-year cash-tax/pretax mean 80.166% (2025 3.626/6.597,2024 4.100/3.716,2023 4.700/6.250) under§4.5. AcquiredIPR&D, contingent consideration and noncash charges compress GAAP denominators. H1FY2026 positiveGAAP pretax 5.317B/tax 1.004B yields reported 18.9%, matched with GAAP EBIT. Do not use adjustedQ2 14.7%/H1 15.0% with GAAP EBIT. Forward use is a normalization proxy, not guidance. news.abbvie.com ↗ |
| Cash and short-term investmentsBalance sheet | $6.6B | Reported | cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue · 0001551152-26-000026 (filed 2026-08-03) |
| BorrowingsBalance sheet | $70.8B | Reported | borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings us-gaap:ShortTermBorrowings + us-gaap:LongTermDebtAndCapitalLeaseObligationsCurrent · 0001551152-26-000026 + us-gaap:LongTermDebtAndCapitalLeaseObligations · 0001551152-26-000026 |
| Finance leasesBalance sheet | $0.0B | Reported | finance leases not separately tagged; retained inside combined debt, with no additional lease deduction balance sheet 2026-06-30 |
| Minority interestsBalance sheet | $47M | Reported | noncontrolling interests at book value us-gaap:MinorityInterest · 0001551152-26-000026 (filed 2026-08-03) |
| SharesBalance sheet | 1.767B | Reported | shares outstanding as of 2026-07-27 cover page of 10-Q 0001551152-26-000026 |
| Dividends per yearShareholders | $12.1B | Reported | Last four paid quarterly dividends Nov 2025 1.64 plus Feb/May/Aug 2026 1.73 each; excludes Nov 2026 not yet paid. × 1.767B shares investors.abbvie.com ↗ |
Research notes
- share-count comparison: 1.771B quarter 2026-04-01..2026-06-30 · 0001551152-26-000026; point-in-time denominator retained
- cost of equity 8.33% (β 0.89 = 0.8 floor relevered for debt/equity 0.14 (§4.5 leverage rule)), WACC 7.7%
- §4.5 leverage: D/E 0.141, net debt/EBITDA 4.06, β_lev 0.891, β 0.800 → 0.891; D $70.82B, E $503.96B, cash $6.57B, base EBITDA $15.84B
Signal Ledger research under one stated scenario — management's targets are delivered — not a forecast that they will be and not investment advice. The research desk (GPT-6.1 (Codex)) gathers filings, guidance and targets; deterministic code applies the samepublished rules to every company and checks the result. Inputs may contain errors; follow the source links before relying on them. Read our valuation methodology →