Jefferies Names AbbVie As Top Pharmaceutical Pick, Offers Alternative Choices

In a report published Friday, Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford named AbbVie Inc (NASDAQ: ABBV) as a "Top Global Pick" in the Pharmaceutical space, replacing Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE).

Holford added that shares have seen significant pressure since mid-December as the initial guidance for Viekira Pak "disappointed" and concerns over Humira's durability re-emerged and that the defenses for Humira have "purposefully been kept hidden." Despite that, the analyst said that he sees a "great entry point" into AbbVie given "a very strong set of drivers" and "iceberg" of good news to emerge in the first half of 2015 as updates from the company are expected on both fronts.

"We are more confident than ever that the durability of Humira will outlast current market expectations following our recent meeting with Rick Gonzalez, CEO of AbbVie," Holford wrote. "We also see strong underlying data to support above-consensus estimates for Viekira Pak. Last, our recent meeting with CSO, Mike Severino, also helped us to more fully understand the potential of both the emerging early to mid-stage pipeline as well as the more visible late stage R&D assets."

Alternative Top Picks

Holford also listed Pfizer, Roche Holding Ltd., AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) Bayer AG as top picks.

Least Preferred List

Holford named Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) as "least preferred" stocks.