High Yield vs. Sustainable Growth: Why AbbVie’s Dividend Beats Pfizer’s Despite the Lower Payout

1 hour ago 2

Vandita Jadeja

Mon, April 6, 2026 astatine 11:15 AM CDT 5 min read

Pharmaceutical companies AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) some reported fourth-quarter net successful aboriginal February, revealing 2 precise antithetic pharmaceutical stories. AbbVie is riding a post-Humira reinvention, portion Pfizer is inactive unwinding its COVID-era individuality and searching for a durable maturation engine. For dividend investors, the opposition is sharp.

  • AbbVie (ABBV) generated $17.82B successful escaped currency travel against $11.66B successful dividend payments (1.53x coverage), with Skyrizi reaching $5.01B successful Q4 revenue, up 32.5% year-over-year.

  • Pfizer (PFE) reported $17.56B successful Q4 gross but faces dividend sustainability issues with escaped currency travel of $9.08B covering lone 0.93x of $9.77B successful dividend payments, forcing reliance connected equilibrium expanse borrowing arsenic COVID merchandise gross collapsed 33% to 70%.

  • AbbVie’s blockbuster immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq are replacing Humira-era gross portion backing dividend growth, whereas Pfizer is racing to standard its non-COVID portfolio and execute $7.2B successful outgo savings by end-2027 earlier its unsustainable dividend erodes the equilibrium expanse further.

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AbbVie's quarterly results showed a concern that has genuinely replaced Humira. Skyrizi generated $5.01B successful Q4, up 32.5% twelvemonth implicit year, making it AbbVie's largest product. Rinvoq added $2.37B, up 29.5%. Together, those 2 drugs powered immunology conception gross of $8.63B, up 18.3%.

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Pfizer's communicative is much complicated. The gross came successful astatine $17.56B, down 1.2% twelvemonth implicit year, but bushed estimates by 4.09%. The non-COVID portfolio did the existent work, increasing 9% operationally. Eliquis contributed $2.02B, up 10%. The Prevnar household added $1.71B, besides up 10%. Vyndaqel reached $1.69B, up 7%. But COVID gross kept shrinking: Paxlovid fell 70% to $218M, and Comirnaty dropped 33% to $2.27B.

Business Driver

AbbVie

Pfizer

Q4 Revenue

$16.62B (+10.0% YoY)

$17.56B (-1.2% YoY)

Primary Growth Engine

Skyrizi, Rinvoq (immunology)

Eliquis, Prevnar, Vyndaqel

Key Headwind

Humira biosimilar erosion (-25.9%)

COVID portfolio illness (-33% to -70%)

Full-Year Revenue Trend

+8.57%

-1.65%

Pfizer's 6.13% dividend output looks charismatic astatine a glance. AbbVie yields astir 3.31% based connected its existent terms and yearly dividend of astir $6.92 per share. Pfizer wins connected earthy yield, but the sustainability representation flips the comparison.

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