AbbVie Inc. was going to report solid fourth quarter and full-year 2017 business anyway, but its projection that US tax reform would give it an industry-best effective tax rate of 9% in 2018 astonished market analysts. On top of sales growth led by Humira, Imbruvica and better-than-anticipated hepatitis C performance, AbbVie's quarterly report on Jan. 26 got glowing remarks across the board.
On the basis of its tax rate projections, the Chicago-area pharma offered revised 2018 sales and earnings-per-share guidance that likewise...








