Abbott Labs Soars After Pandemic Buying Boosts Results
Stay-at-home orders prompted consumers to stock up on nutrition products and customers in emerging markets were strong buyers of pharmaceuticals, helping Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) beat expectations for first-quarter results. Analyst estimates had been lowered drastically since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic in anticipation of a slowdown in routine medical procedures.
Sales increased 4.3% on an organic basis to $7.7 billion and adjusted earnings per share rose 3.2% to $0.65. Abbott had originally guided to EPS between $0.69 and $0.71 for the quarter, but analysts lowered estimates in the last month to $0.58 on expectations of significantly lower sales of medical devices and diagnostics as hospitals canceled routine procedures.
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Source Fool.com
