AbbVie Selloff Is A Buying Opportunity
Geoff Considine, Ph.D | Sep 13, 2021 13:25
AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) has recently suffered a sell-off, triggered by the Aug. 31 Investing.com ’s calculation of Wall Street consensus is derived from the views of 24 analysts who have published ratings and price targets over the past 90 days. The consensus rating is bullish (outperform) and the consensus 12-month price target is $125.19, implying a 17.4% price appreciation.
Source: Investing.com
Today, as in May, the prevailing outlook for ABBV from the analysts is bullish. Combining the dividend and the consensus price outlook, the expected 12-month total return is 23.8% (taking the average of the two consensus price targets). A key question, even taking the analyst consensus at face value, is whether the risk associated with ABBV makes this an attractive risk-return proposition.
Market-Implied Outlook for ABBV/h2
I have analyzed call and put options at a range of strikes for two expiration dates, Jan. 21, 2022 and June 17, 2022, to generate market-implied outlooks for the next 4.3 months and the next 9.1 months. When I calculate the theoretical prices of the options using the market-implied outlook, the theoretical prices match the market prices to within an average of 0.4% of the market prices of the options.
The standard presentation of the market-implied outlook is a probability distribution of return, with probability on the vertical axis and price return on the horizontal.
Source: Author’s calculations using options quotes from eTrade
The market-implied outlook for the next 4.3-months is very symmetric, with similar probabilities of positive and negative returns of the same magnitude. There is a very slight positive tilt, with the peak probability corresponding to a price return of +1%, but this is not large enough to be considered meaningful. The annualized volatility derived from this distribution is 27%.
To make it easier to directly compare the probabilities of positive and negative returns, I look at a version of the market-implied outlook with the negative return side of the distribution rotated about the vertical axis (see chart below).
Source: Author’s calculations using options quotes from eTrade. The negative return side of the distribution has been rotated about the vertical axis.
The probabilities of positive and negative returns of the same magnitude are very similar (the red dashed line and the solid blue line are very close). If anything, there are very slightly higher probabilities of negative returns.
We expect the market-implied outlook to have a negative bias for dividend-paying stocks because the dividends reduce the upside potential relative to the downside. In addition, theory suggests that there should be a negative bias because investors tend to be risk averse, and therefore willing to pay more than fair value for put options. In light of these two considerations, and especially because ABBV pays such a large dividend, this market-implied outlook to Jan. 21, 2022 is modestly bullish.
In my analysis in May, the market-implied outlook to Jan. 21, 2022 was notably negatively tilted and, considering the large dividend and the tendency for a negative bias in these outlooks, I interpreted the results as neutral with a slight negative (bearish) tilt. The current market-implied outlook to Jan. 21, 2022 is substantially more bullish than back in May.
Source: author’s calculations using options quotes from eTrade. The negative return side of the distribution has been rotated about the vertical axis.
The market-implied outlook for the next 9.1 months (calculated using options expiring on June 17, 2022) shows an elevated probability of negative returns (red dashed line meaningfully above the solid blue line). I interpret this as neutral with a slight bearish tilt. The annualized volatility derived from this distribution is 27%.
Summary/h2
The recent selloff in ABBV presents a buying opportunity. The Wall Street consensus is that the impact of the new FDA labeling requirement for Rinvoq is not going to be substantial.
The consensus 12-month price targets imply almost 20% in price appreciation, for expected total return of 23.8%. The market-implied outlook to January 2022 has improved substantially since my last analysis in May, going from neutral with a bearish tilt to modestly bullish. The expected volatility is 27% (annualized).
As a rule of thumb, I want to see an expected 12-month return of at least half the value of the expected volatility. If the expected return is anywhere close to the analyst consensus of 23.8%, ABBV easily surpasses this threshold.
Given the slightly bullish market-implied outlook to early 2022 and the Wall Street outlook, I am bullish overall for ABBV. The bearish tilt in the market-implied outlook to June 2022 suggests revisiting this analysis in early 2022.
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