Abbott Laboratories, based in Abbott Park, Illinois, has announced a decline in profit for the latest quarter, largely attributed to lower revenues from Covid-19 tests. However, the company has managed to exceed expectations with strong growth in other parts of its business.
In the quarter ended June 30, Abbott Laboratories reported a profit of $1.375 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared to $2.018 billion, or $1.14 a share, in the same period last year. Despite the decline, analysts polled by FactSet had predicted per-share earnings of 76 cents, making Abbott’s performance slightly better than anticipated.
When excluding certain one-time expenses, the company’s earnings per share reached $1.08, surpassing the estimated $1.05 projected by analysts.
Meanwhile, Abbott Laboratories experienced an 11.4% decrease in sales, which amounted to $9.978 billion for the quarter. In the previous year, sales totaled $11.257 billion. However, when excluding the drop in Covid-19 test revenues, the company saw organic sales rise by an impressive 11.5%.
Although Abbott Laboratories slightly adjusted its full-year earnings per share guidance to a range of $3.02 and $3.22 from the initial forecast of $3.05 to $3.25, it reaffirmed its expectations for full-year adjusted per-share earnings between $4.30 and $4.50. This indicates the company’s confidence in its overall business performance despite lower revenue from Covid-19 tests.
Initially projecting organic sales growth to be at least in the high single digits, Abbott Laboratories now forecasts full-year sales growth in the low double digits.
Overall, Abbott Laboratories continues to adapt to the changing landscape and displays resilience amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic.
