Shares of AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) were trading a bit lower on Monday. This happened even as the drugmaker shared what looks, on paper, like pretty good news: early trial data for its new obesity treatment.
The company announced topline results from a Phase 1 study of a drug called ABBV-295. It's a long-acting amylin analog, which is a fancy way of saying it works differently than the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound that have taken the world by storm. In this early test, the drug showed what AbbVie calls "clinically meaningful, dose-dependent reductions in body weight."
How much weight loss? The mean percentage changes ranged from -7.75% to -9.79% at the 12-week mark. That's nearly a 10% drop for the highest dose. The treatment was also "generally well tolerated," with the most common issues being mild gastrointestinal disorders—basically the standard fare for this class of medications.
So, promising early data for a new player in the hottest market in pharma. Why did the stock dip? The broader market was having a rough day, with the S&P 500 down 0.9%. The healthcare sector specifically was off 0.4%, though it was still the second-best performing sector out of eleven. Sometimes a stock just gets caught in the tide.
This foray into obesity isn't a solo project for AbbVie. Back in March 2025, the company announced a license agreement with a Danish biotech firm called Gubra A/S to develop this drug, which was originally known as GUB014295.
What the Charts Are Saying
Let's look under the hood of the stock itself. Technically, things are... mixed. The stock is trading 0.4% above its 20-day simple moving average and 1.5% above its 100-day average, which suggests some short-term strength. Over the past year, shares are up about 6% and are sitting closer to their 52-week highs than their lows.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 53.14, which is smack in the middle of neutral territory—not overbought, not oversold. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is at 2.4702, which is above its signal line of 2.0809. That's typically read as a bullish momentum signal.
So you have a neutral RSI and a bullish MACD. The takeaway? There's some strength here, but it's not screamingly obvious. Traders might want to watch key levels: resistance around $230.00 and support near $220.50.
The people paid to have opinions on this stock—the analysts—are still pretty bullish. The consensus rating is a Buy, with an average price target of $241.24. Recent moves include:
- RBC Capital: Initiated with Outperform and a $260.00 target (Feb. 25)
- Barclays: Initiated with Overweight and a $275.00 target (Feb. 20)
- Piper Sandler: Maintained Overweight and raised its target to $299.00 (Feb. 18)
For ETF investors, AbbVie is a major holding in several big healthcare funds. You'll find it in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) with an 8.28% weight, the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) with a 6.99% weight, and the iShares US Healthcare ETF (IYH) with a 6.57% weight.
When the closing bell rang, AbbVie shares were down 0.25% at $229.52. It's a small move on a day with promising news, which tells you the obesity drug race is incredibly competitive. Showing you can make people lose weight is just the first step; you have to convince investors you can do it better, safer, or cheaper than everyone else already in the game.
