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Investing.com - Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has backed its full-year financial guidance despite noting a period of "uncertainty," as the medical device maker reported adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter that topped average analyst estimates.
Net sales at the company, which also makes products like baby formula, climbed by 4% versus a year ago to $10.36 billion, compared with Bloomberg consensus estimates of $10.4 billion.
Sales of its diabetes care products, which includes its popular FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor, jumped by 16% year-over-year to $1.83 billion. The solid returns, which came even as Abbott has moved to address supply issues for the Libre offerings, pushed its medical device sales up to $4.9 billion.
However, the uptick was slightly offset by a 7.2% drop in diagnostics sales to $2.05 billion. Analysts had anticipated the unit would register sales of $2.19 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.09, up from $0.98 in the corresponding time frame last year and ahead of Wall Street projections of $1.07.
Abbott also reaffirmed all of its previously provided full-year 2025 financial outlook, with organic sales growth seen in the range of 7.5% to 8.5% and adjusted diluted per-share income of $5.05 to $5.25.
Current-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share are tipped to be $1.23 to $1.27.
In a statement, CEO Robert Ford said that "diversification and execution" allows Abbott to "navigate through periods of uncertainty and continually deliver sustainable growth."
The company also noted that two new manufacturing and research investments in Illinois and Texas worth $500 million are expected to go live by the end of the year, in a possibly rare sign of spending plans being offered against an operating backdrop made largely murky by President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda. Several other businesses have suggested that they may hold off on deciding on expenditures as they assess the effect of the levies on the broader economy.
Abbott shares were marginally lower in premarket U.S. trading on Wednesday.