The sticker shock on the pharma giant’s shares fades once you look at what investors are paying for the earnings expected just two years from now.

At a glance, AbbVie (ABBV) stock looks expensive. Trading near its 52-week high, the shares command a price-to-earnings multiple of about 55.5 times the last twelve months of adjusted earnings. For many investors, that’s where the analysis stops. But it shouldn’t.

That same stock price, when measured against the earnings analysts expect the company to generate by 2027, represents a multiple of just 16.1 times. That is a steep 71% discount from today’s trailing multiple. This is the forward valuation discount: the way the price you pay effectively falls on its own as a company’s…