Key Takeaways
- Abbott Laboratories stock fell in intraday trading Wednesday as investors reacted to a first-quarter earnings report that beat expectations, but included current-quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) guidance mostly below estimates.
- Lower demand for COVID testing dragged down sales in Abbott's diagnostics division by 17.6% compared to the prior-year quarter.
- Medical devices posted a 14.2% sales increase from Q1 2023, the biggest percentage gain among company units.
Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) fell in intraday trading Wednesday, with second-quarter guidance seeming to outweigh first-quarter reꦕsults that beat analyst estimates.
Key first-quarter metrics narrowly beat consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha, with $9.96 billion in sales and $1.73 billion in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:adjusted net income, or 98 cents 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:per share, surpassing expectations of $9.9 billion, $1.67 billion, and 95 cents per share, respectively.
The company has been expecting declines in COVID testing demand, and reported a 17.6% decreaseꦦ in diagnostics unit sales compared with the first quarter of last year. Worldwide C𓂃OVID testing sales were $204 million in the quarter, down from $730 million in Q1 2023.
Medical devices were the biggest source of growth from the same quarter last year, with sales up 14.2%, compared with increases of 5.1% and 3.1% for Abbott's nutrition and pharmaceutical sectors, respectively.
Abbott's adjusted EPS for the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:full fiscal year was narrowed to between $4.55 to $4.70 from a prior range of $4.50 to $4.70, surrounding﷽ analyst expectations of $4.62. Second-quarter guidance of $1.08 to $1.12 is mostly below the consensus $1.12.
"Our first-quarter results reflect a strong start to the year, and we are raising our full-year sales and EPS guidance," Abbott 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert B. Ford said. "This was the fifth consecutive quarter that we delivered double-digit organic sales growth in our underlying ba꧑se business, which inc🌜luded particularly strong results in Medical Devices and Established Pharmaceuticals."
Abbott Labs became one of the largest COVID testers during the pandemic, and also manufactures a variety of healthcare devices and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:pharmaceuticals, 🧜while being one of the largest producers of baby formula in tꩲhe U.S.
Abbott stock slipped 3% to $106.05 at around 2 p.m. ET♍ Wednesdꦫay.