Abbott raises earnings outlook as MedTech, Pharma drive Q3 beat

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) increased its full-year earnings guidance on Tuesday after its financials for Q3 2024 exceeded Wall Street’s forecasts, thanks mainly to the strength in its Pharma and MedTech segments.

The North Chicago, Illinois-based medical device maker reported $10.6B in sales for the quarter, with ~5% YoY growth as its MedTech division generated $4.7B, with ~12% YoY growth, driven by double-digit growth in its Diabetes Care and cardiac segments.

In Diabetes Care, continuous glucose monitors generated over $1.6B in sales with ~19% YoY growth, while double-digit sales growth in catheters and cardiac mapping-related products led to ~12% YoY growth in electrophysiology sales.

Meanwhile, Abbott’s (NYSE:ABT) Pharma segment added $1.4B in sales during the quarter, indicating ~3% YoY growth as sales grew ~1% YoY in certain key emerging markets where the company holds promising long-term growth opportunities.

However, ABT’s diagnostics division continued to contract, generating $2.4B in sales with a ~2% YoY decline as COVID-19 testing sales fell ~13% year over year globally. Meanwhile, Abbott’s (ABT) nutrition businesses brought $2.1B in sales, mostly unchanged from the prior-year period.

During the quarter, ABT’s bottom line improved ~15% YoY to $0.94 in diluted earnings per share, indicating ~6% YoY growth to $1.21 EPS on an adjusted basis, as the company’s gross margin improved to ~51% from ~50% in the year-ago quarter.

While Abbott (ABT) maintained its full-year 2024 organic sales growth guidance range of 9.5%–10.0%, the company increased the midpoint of earnings guidance, implying $4.64–$4.70 of adjusted diluted EPS in line with the consensus.

Concurrently, ABT announced a new share repurchase program worth up to $7B.