Earnings
Abbott edges past third-quarter forecasts as Exact Sciences deal lifts diagnostics sales 47%
Abbott's adjusted profit and sales came in just above analyst estimates, and it narrowed its full-year EPS range around an unchanged midpoint.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Abbott Laboratories reported third-quarter sales of $13.01 billion on Wednesday, up 14.5% on a reported basis and 7.0% on a comparable basis. Adjusted diluted earnings rose 9.2% to $1.42 a share. Analysts polled ahead of the release had expected $1.41 a share on revenue of about $12.99 billion, according to a Benzinga preview published on Monday.
Diagnostics led the quarter, with reported sales up 46.7% to $3.31 billion. Most of that came from Exact Sciences, which Abbott bought in March and now reports as its cancer diagnostics unit; the deal added $851 million to the segment. On a comparable basis, diagnostics grew 6.4%, with cancer diagnostics up 13.8%. Medical devices, the largest unit, posted sales of $5.83 billion, up 7.8% comparable, while established pharmaceuticals grew 8.4% and nutrition 4.9%.
GAAP earnings fell 43.6% to $0.53 a share, against $0.94 a year earlier, as specified items cut net income to $920 million from $2.48 billion on an adjusted basis. Abbott kept the midpoint of its full-year guidance, tightening the adjusted EPS range to $5.50 to $5.55, and set fourth-quarter adjusted EPS at $1.62 to $1.67. It still expects comparable sales growth of about 6% for 2026.
For investors, the release shows how much of Abbott's headline growth now depends on acquired revenue. Excluding the Exact Sciences contribution, the group's comparable growth of 7% is in line with its full-year target, and nutrition remains the soft spot: sales in the unit are down 2.1% comparable over the first nine months. The gap between GAAP and adjusted earnings, driven by deal-related items, is the figure to watch in coming quarters as the cancer testing business is folded in.