Abbott Laboratories (ABT) narrows 2024 earnings guidance, shares slip

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) reported better-than-expected first-quarter top and bottom lines and narrowed its earnings guidance for the full fiscal 2024.

Shares fell over 2% in premarket trading Wednesday.

The healthcare company posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.98, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96. Revenue came in at $9.96 billion, also above the expected $9.89 billion.

Looking ahead to the second quarter of 2024, Abbott forecasts EPS to range between $1.08 and $1.12, compared to analyst predictions of $1.12.

For the full year, Abbott adjusted its EPS guidance to a tighter range of $4.55 to $4.70, compared to the previous range of $4.50 to $4.70, against an analyst estimate of $4.62.

Moreover, Abbott has refined its 2024 guidance for organic sales growth, excluding COVID-19 testing-related sales, to between 8.5% and 10.0%. This adjustment represents an increase at the guidance's midpoint.

“Our first-quarter results reflect a strong start to the year, and we are raising our full-year sales and EPS guidance," said Robert B. Ford, chairman and CEO of Abbott.

"This was the fifth consecutive quarter that we delivered double-digit organic sales growth in our underlying base business, which included particularly strong results in Medical Devices and Established Pharmaceuticals."

By Vahid Karaahmetovic

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