Compare Stocks › ABBV vs AMT

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) vs American Tower Corporation (AMT): Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

As of 2026-08-03, ABBV is overvalued at $251, with a DCF intrinsic value of $178 and a margin of safety of -41%. AMT is overvalued at $173, with an intrinsic value of $2 and a margin of safety of -7694%. Of the two, ABBV has the wider margin of safety.

ABBV

AbbVie Inc.

$250.94

AMT

American Tower Corporation

$173.36

Rewards

ABBV

★AbbVie Inc. has maintained ROIC above 10% for 4 consecutive years, suggesting solid business economics.
★Gross margin of 72.8% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
★AbbVie Inc. scores 82/100 on the Economic Moat Score (Wide Moat), with reinvestment efficiency as the strongest competitive dimension.

AMT

★Gross margin of 73.8% indicates strong pricing power — typical of businesses with significant intellectual property or brand strength.
★Free cash flow has grown at a 27.6% CAGR over the past 4 years, demonstrating strong earnings power growth.
★Return on equity has consistently exceeded 20% over 4 years, indicating efficient use of shareholder capital.

Risks

ABBV

⚠Buybacks have been poorly timed — 3 out of 4 years involved repurchases at relatively expensive valuations.
⚠Free cash flow has declined at a 9.8% CAGR over the past 4 years — a concerning trend.

AMT

⚠High leverage (4.22x net debt/equity) combined with thin interest coverage (-1.0x) poses financial risk.
⚠Net debt/EBITDA of 6.1x indicates heavy leverage — it would take over 4 years of EBITDA to pay off net debt.
⚠Altman Z-Score of 1.16 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.

Key Valuation Metrics

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ABBV

AMT

Valuation

N/A

Free Cash Flow

$2.92B

N/A

FCF Yield

3.61%

70.89

Trailing P/E

27.92

15.41

Forward P/E

24.76

Quality & Moat

27.60%

ROIC

7.11%

N/A

ROE

33.91%

72.79%

Gross Margin

73.77%

0.41

PEG Ratio

1.62

Balance Sheet Safety

N/A

Net Debt / Equity

4.22

N/A

Interest Coverage

N/A

2.06

Net Debt / EBITDA

6.14

2.76%

Dividend Yield

4.03%

ABBV: 4Ties: 2AMT: 2

ABBVAMT

Historical Fundamentals

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ABBV

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation. The dashed forward point is the forward P/E — today's price ÷ analyst consensus EPS.

AMT

$1 Retained Earnings Test

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ABBV

N/A

Net losses over 3 years — test not applicable

Company had negative cumulative retained earnings

Σ Retained

$-19.85B

Δ Market Cap

+$118.02B

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

AMT

N/A

Net losses over 3 years — test not applicable

Company had negative cumulative retained earnings

Σ Retained

$-2.91B

Δ Market Cap

$-16.77B

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

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ABBV

40.7% Overvalued

Price is 40.7% above estimated fair value

Current Price: $250.94

Strongly undervalued

Undervalued

Fairly valued

Overvalued

Strongly overvalued

Fair Value: $178.31

Strongly undervalued

Undervalued

Fairly valued

Overvalued

Strongly overvalued

AMT

7694.4% Overvalued

Price is 7694.4% above estimated fair value

Current Price: $173.36

Strongly undervalued

Strongly overvalued

Fair Value: $2.22

Strongly undervalued

Undervalued

Fairly valued

Overvalued

Strongly overvalued

Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth

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ABBV

Requires positive FCF to compute implied growth rate.

AMT

What growth rate is the market pricing in at $173?

+18.1%

Market-Implied Owner Earnings Growth

Standard FCF implies +18.0%

The market implies +18.1% Owner Earnings growth, above historical trends.

Standard FCF implies a demanding +18.0%, reflecting heavy growth investment.

Economic Moat Score

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ABBV

82/100

Wide Moat

70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Wide moat with strength across all dimensions. Reinvestment Efficiency is the standout factor.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 4 years of fundamental data.

AMT

51/100

Narrow Moat

70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with revenue predictability as the key competitive advantage. Improving roic consistency would strengthen the moat.

Forensic Accounting

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ABBV

-2.86

Unlikely Manipulator

Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

AMT

-2.49

Unlikely Manipulator

Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Ownership Breakdown

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ABBV

Insiders 0.1%Institutions 76.9%Retail & Other 23.0%

No. of Institutional Holders5,146

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

AMT

Insiders 0.1%Institutions 96.3%Retail & Other 3.7%

No. of Institutional Holders2,361

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

Insider Buying Activity

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ABBV

Buys (3M)

Buys (12M)

No open market insider purchases found.

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

AMT

Buys (3M)

Buys (12M)

Total value (12M): $1.49M

KALATHUR RAJESH

Director

$494,936

@ $185.30 · 2026-03-10

REILLY EUGENE F

Director

$994,110

@ $178.99 · 2025-10-31

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises.

Insider Selling Activity

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ABBV

Sells (3M)

Sells (12M)

Total value (12M): $21.79M

PURDUE DAVID RYAN

Officer

$1.22M

@ $233.56 · 2026-03-04

SIATIS PERRY C.

General Counsel

$4.38M

@ $234.39 · 2026-03-02

SIATIS PERRY C.

General Counsel

$5.15M

@ $230.00 · 2026-02-25

SALEKI-GERHARDT AZITA

Chief Operating Officer

$8.41M

@ $198.42 · 2025-08-12

DONOGHOE NICHOLAS

Officer

$2.64M

@ $198.51 · 2025-08-05

STEWART JEFFREY RYAN

Officer

$12.36M

@ $210.08 · 2025-03-31

REENTS SCOTT T.

Chief Financial Officer

$3.75M

@ $212.34 · 2025-03-14

SIATIS PERRY C.

General Counsel

$5.82M

@ $208.69 · 2025-03-03

GONZALEZ RICHARD A

Director

$20.26M

@ $205.45 · 2025-03-03

RICHMOND TIMOTHY J

Officer

$4.47M

@ $210.45 · 2025-03-03

BUCKBEE KEVIN K

Officer

$3.85M

@ $203.41 · 2025-02-26

RICHMOND TIMOTHY J

Officer

$6.07M

@ $202.90 · 2025-02-26

SIATIS PERRY C.

General Counsel

$1.14M

@ $197.90 · 2025-02-20

BUCKBEE KEVIN K

Officer

$310,032

@ $172.24 · 2024-12-16

GONZALEZ RICHARD A

Officer and Director

$12.40M

@ $186.52 · 2024-08-05

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

AMT

Sells (3M)

Sells (12M)

Total value (12M): $22.34M

DOWLING RUTH T

General Counsel

$309,641

@ $172.89 · 2026-07-29

DOWLING RUTH T

Officer

$173,092

@ $178.08 · 2026-04-29

VONDRAN STEVEN OWEN

Chief Executive Officer

$6.31M

@ $188.46 · 2026-03-04

DOWLING RUTH T

General Counsel

$128,564

@ $188.51 · 2026-03-04

NOEL EUGENE M

Chief Operating Officer

$7.87M

@ $191.05 · 2026-03-02

DOWLING RUTH T

General Counsel

$122,121

@ $186.16 · 2026-02-27

MEYER ROBERT JOSEPH JR

Officer

$831,695

@ $186.73 · 2026-02-27

SMITH RODNEY M

Chief Financial Officer

$6.60M

@ $192.09 · 2026-02-17

FONT JUAN HERNANDEZ

Officer

$149,998

@ $208.33 · 2025-07-31

GOEL SANJAY

Officer

$863,680

@ $215.92 · 2025-03-17

MEYER ROBERT JOSEPH JR

Officer

$1.14M

@ $201.67 · 2025-02-27

REEVE PAMELA D A

Director

$1.01M

@ $202.97 · 2025-02-26

SMITH RODNEY M

Chief Financial Officer

$3.14M

@ $189.70 · 2025-02-13

SMITH RODNEY M

Chief Financial Officer

$3.00M

@ $181.10 · 2025-01-16

GOEL SANJAY

Officer

$1.19M

@ $238.00 · 2024-09-13

NOEL EUGENE M

Officer

$7.95M

@ $240.00 · 2024-09-10

PUECH OLIVIER

Officer

$4.37M

@ $230.00 · 2024-09-03

PUECH OLIVIER

Officer

$2.26M

@ $226.35 · 2024-08-26

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives.

🎭 Mr. Market's Mood

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ABBV

😏Greed(61/100)

"Market is optimistic — be cautious and ensure you have a margin of safety"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

AMT

😐Neutral(47/100)

"Market is pricing this stock without strong emotion in either direction"

Composite sentiment score based on market signals. Inspired by Buffett’s "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

⚖️ Buffett Signal

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ABBV

⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Greed (61)

AMT

⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Neutral (47)

View ABBV Full Analysis View AMT Full Analysis

Frequently Asked Questions: ABBV vs AMT

Is AbbVie Inc. or American Tower Corporation more undervalued in 2026?▼

Based on our discounted cash flow model, ABBV trades at a -40.7% margin of safety (intrinsic value $178 vs. price $251), compared to AMT's -7694.4% margin of safety (intrinsic $2 vs. $173).

Which stock has a wider economic moat, AbbVie Inc. or American Tower Corporation?▼

ABBV scores 82/100 (Wide moat), while AMT scores 51/100 (Narrow moat). The moat score measures competitive advantage durability across ROIC consistency, margin stability, revenue predictability, and reinvestment efficiency.

Is American Tower Corporation in financial distress?▼

AMT's Altman Z-Score of 1.2 places it in the Distress zone, signaling elevated bankruptcy risk. ABBV scores 2.4 (Grey zone). The Altman Z-Score is a five-factor model that predicts insolvency within two years; scores below 1.81 indicate significant distress.

Which stock has higher return on invested capital, AbbVie Inc. or American Tower Corporation?▼

ABBV earns 27.6% ROIC versus AMT's 7.1%. A higher ROIC means the company generates more profit per dollar of capital employed, a hallmark of durable competitive advantage in Buffett-style analysis.

Which dividend is safer, AbbVie Inc.'s or American Tower Corporation's?▼

ABBV's dividend earns a safety score of 39/100 (Unsafe), compared to AMT's 24/100 (Unsafe). ABBV has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.