AbbVie price target raised to $195 from $185 at BofA

BofA raised the firm’s price target on AbbVie (ABBV) to $195 from $185 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares ahead of the AbbVie and Cerevel’s emraclidine data readout in Q4. There has been “considerable investor debate” regarding the potential outcome of the EMPOWER-1 and EMPOWER-2 Phase 2 trials, especially in the context of recent approval of Bristol Myers’ (BMY) KarXT and data from Neurocrine’s (NBIX) Phase 2 NBI-568, the analyst noted. While investors generally expect emraclidine’s efficacy to align with KarXT, recent data from NBI-568 have raised at least some concerns about the potential risk of emraclidine underperforming relative to KarXT in its pivotal trials, notes the analyst, who remains “optimistic about the readout” and is raising the firm’s multiple for AbbVie.