Wall Street’s mood took a turn on January 7, 2026, as a swirl of corporate news, presidential pronouncements, and shifting global energy dynamics sent ripples through the markets. Investors, who had earlier watched the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average touch new heights, found themselves recalibrating after a late-session slide. Meanwhile, pharmaceutical giant AbbVie became a focal point, not just for its own stock’s rollercoaster ride but also for the broader questions it raised about risk, deal-making, and the future of Big Pharma.
AbbVie shares, which had closed up 4.2% at $233.42 in regular trading, reversed course in after-hours action, falling about 1% to $231.11. The catalyst? A Wall Street Journal report suggesting AbbVie was in advanced talks to acquire cancer-drug developer Revolution Medicines for around $20 billion—a rumor the company quickly shot down. In a pointed statement, AbbVie insisted it “is not in discussions with Revolution Medicines.” According to Reuters, this denial arrived just as investors were digesting a fresh SEC filing that flagged a hefty $1.3 billion pre-tax charge tied to acquired in-process research and development and milestone expenses expected in the fourth quarter.
For Revolution Medicines, the day was even more dramatic. After soaring nearly 30% on the takeover chatter, its shares tumbled 11.5% late in the session as the deal talk evaporated. The episode offered a vivid snapshot of just how quickly sentiment can shift in today’s high-stakes pharmaceutical landscape. As Reuters put it, “deal talk can evaporate in a line, and deal-linked charges can hit earnings before any new drug generates sales.”
The SEC filing revealed that the $1.3 billion charge would impact AbbVie’s upcoming results, a reminder that deal-making can jolt near-term profit measures without warning. AbbVie explained in its filing that it does not forecast such expenses, since the timing of transactions involving assets still in development is inherently unpredictable. The result: a trimmed full-year 2025 adjusted earnings per share guidance, now at $9.90 to $9.94, down from the previous range of $10.61 to $10.65. Fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings guidance was also cut, to $2.61 to $2.65 per share, from $3.32 to $3.36.
Investors are now left eyeing February 4, 2026, as the next major milestone. That morning, AbbVie will announce its full-year and fourth-quarter 2025 results, followed by a webcast call at 8 a.m. Central Time. According to the AbbVie News Center, management will also appear at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 14 in a fireside chat, where deal posture and strategic priorities will no doubt be under the microscope. The market is keen to hear whether the company can present a “clean outlook that can absorb the fourth-quarter charge,” and whether further deal questions will remain in the background or resurface with renewed intensity.
AbbVie’s recent history is instructive. The company has spent more than $20 billion on acquisitions since 2023, a period marked by the loss of patent protection for its former blockbuster, Humira. That spending spree has put a spotlight on AbbVie’s ability to find new growth drivers, especially as competition looms for its immunology mainstays, Skyrizi and Rinvoq. UBS, which recently assumed coverage of AbbVie with a neutral rating, raised its price target to $240 from $220, but cautioned that the stock “was no longer obviously cheap” after its recent rerating, according to Investing.com India.
Yet, not all the news was sobering. On the same day, AbbVie announced that Health Canada had approved its hepatitis C drug Maviret for both acute and chronic infection, calling it an eight-week, pan-genotypic treatment option for Canadian patients. Rami Fayed, vice president and general manager of AbbVie Canada, celebrated the approval, saying it “addresses an unmet need” for those living with acute hepatitis C, as reported by BioSpace.
Meanwhile, the broader market was contending with its own set of crosscurrents. The S&P 500 fell 0.34% to close at 6,920.93, while the Dow dropped 466 points, or 0.94%, to 48,996.08. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the trend, eking out a 0.16% gain to finish at 23,584.27. Financial and energy sectors, which had started the year on a strong note, both declined more than 1% during the session. Major banks—JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—ended lower, as did energy giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
Crude oil prices also slid, following President Donald Trump’s announcement that interim authorities in Venezuela would be turning over as much as 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. This move sparked concerns about oversupply in an already jittery market. Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments, told CNBC, “The lack of significant movement in the price of a barrel of crude oil, in our opinion, is a vote of confidence that we’re still far from being tight from a supply-demand standpoint.” He added, “There’s significant risk of oversupply.”
Trump’s influence extended beyond energy. He declared that he “will not permit” defense companies to issue dividends or stock buybacks until they addressed his complaints about the industry, a move that sent defense stocks tumbling. In another surprise, the president announced a ban on large institutional investors buying more single-family homes, a policy that weighed on private equity firms such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management. Yet not all was gloomy: shares of oil refiners Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum rose 3% and more than 1%, respectively, after reports that Venezuelan oil sales to the U.S. would continue indefinitely and sanctions would be eased.
MarketWatch pointed out that trading volume in AbbVie stock climbed to about 9.8 million shares, well above its recent average, underscoring the heightened interest and volatility surrounding the company. For AbbVie and its investors, the coming weeks promise no shortage of drama. The big questions—about deal-making, pipeline spending, and how to deploy a still-robust balance sheet—are set to come into sharper focus as the company faces its next earnings report and public appearances.
In a market where headlines can change fortunes in minutes, both AbbVie and Wall Street at large are bracing for the next twist. Whether it’s a clean forecast or more surprises, February 4 is circled on every investor’s calendar.