AbbVie: The Only Big Pharma Stock I'd Consider a Buy‑and‑Never‑Sell

There were times when investors may have worried about hanging onto AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) stock.

A decade ago, more than 63% of the pharmaceutical giant's revenue was tied up in one drug -- Humira. Granted, it was the top-selling drug in the world at the time. But despite the 130 patents it received for Humira's various applications, sales were eventually going to drop once its patent protection expired and it faced generic competition.

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Due to that competition, Humira's sales fell from $21.2 billion in 2023 to just $4.5 billion in 2025. But AbbVie's overall revenue was better than ever in 2025, thanks to the ascendance of two other immunology blockbusters: Skyrizi and Rinvoq. The company's ability to hold off generic competitors long enough to develop a pair of replacement drugs for Humira that are more effective in the same indications was impressive -- and is one of the key reasons why I consider AbbVie that rare buy-and-never-sell stock.

Here are three others.

1. A dependable, above-average dividend

AbbVie's shares are up a little more than 114% over the past five years, but the company's total return over that period is more than 160%. Counting its time as part of Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years, including a 5.5% bump this year. That makes it a Dividend King, one of the rare companies with payout-hiking streaks of 50 years or more. Since its spinoff from Abbott in 2013, AbbVie has raised its payouts by more than 330%.

At its current share price, the stock yields around 2.8%, more than twice the average yield of the S&P 500. It's rare for a company with this much growth to also have that much value as an income-producing stock.

2. Aggressive pipeline growth through acquisitions

In 2025, the company had 10 therapies with annual sales of $1 billion or more. That didn't happen by accident. AbbVie has spent big on acquisitions to build up its pipeline, and continues to do so.

It just plunked down $650 million in January for one promising oncology drug, RC148, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company RemeGen. It's a next-generation bispecific therapy designed to treat various advanced solid tumors. A bispecific therapy can bind to two distinct targets simultaneously, acting as a bridge between a cancer cell and an immune cell.

In February 2024, AbbVie spent more than $10 billion to buy ImmunoGen, gaining Elahere, a treatment for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In August 2024, it bought Cerevel Therapeutics for $8.7 billion, gaining two clinical-stage neuroscience therapies: emraclidine, a potential best-in-class antipsychotic for schizophrenia, and tavapadon for Parkinson's disease. In December 2024, it spent $1.4 billion to buy Aliada Therapeutics for its Alzheimer's disease therapies.

AbbVie now has more than 90 compounds in its pipeline, with two-thirds of them in mid- or late-stage trials.

It also just got a big approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market Venclexta as a first-line treatment for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma (in combination with AstraZeneca's acalabrutinib). It's the first wholly oral fixed-period treatment for this patient group. While AbbVie doesn't wholly own Venclexta, it developed it in partnership with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche.

3. Management that's focused on the long haul

AbbVie's business is recession-resistant because its oncology, immunology, and psychiatric medications are need-based. People generally don't stop taking these types of medications during economic downturns. That allows the company to keep its margins relatively high; its gross margin stood at 72.6% in the fourth quarter.

It also has significant cash flow, which allows it to continue paying out dividends and funding research and development (R&D). Its revenue rose 8.6% to $61.2 billion in 2025, while earnings per share fell 1.3% to $2.36 due to spending on R&D and acquisitions.

AbbVie management recognizes that significant R&D spending is just part of doing business in the pharma world; instead of being short-sighted about its finances, it takes a long-term approach. That's a strategy that its long-term investors will appreciate.

James Halley has positions in AbbVie. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie, Abbott Laboratories, and AstraZeneca Plc. The Motley Fool recommends Roche Holding AG. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.