Abbott Laboratories Starts 2019 Exceeding Expectations – Motley's Fool



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Until here in 2019, Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) had a relatively good year, with a stock up 5.6% so far earlier this week. The question now is: can society take on even more momentum?

Abbott Labs has announced its first quarter results before the market opens on Wednesday. Have investors received good or bad news? Here are the highlights of Abbott Laboratories' first quarter update.

Three scientists in a laboratory

Source of the image: Getty Images.

In numbers

Abbott Labs announced a business turnover of $ 7.5 billion for the first quarter, an increase of 2% from $ 7.4 billion in the same quarter of the previous year. Revenues reported by the company were slightly higher than the $ 7.47 billion estimates of average analysts.

What did the Abbott Labs results look like in the first quarter? The company reported net earnings of $ 672 million, or $ 0.38 per share, under GAAP, compared to $ 409 million or $ 0.23 per share for the same period in 2018.

Adjusted net income of the Company in the first quarter was $ 0.63 per share. This was an improvement over Abbott Labs' result in the prior year, when the company reported adjusted net earnings of $ 0.59 per share. It was also better than the estimate of consensus analyst consensus earnings of $ 0.61 per share.

Behind the numbers

Sales of Abbott's nutrition products grew by 2% worldwide in the first quarter. This increase is largely due to sales growth in Asia and Latin America, particularly for the company's brands of infants and toddlers, and higher sales by Ansure and Glucerna.

Sales of diagnostic products increased only 0.2% in the first quarter, given the unfavorable foreign exchange impact of 4.2%. The company's Alinity diagnostic system has been a key growth driver.

Pharmaceutical sales for Abbott Labs fell 4.9% year-over-year. However, this decrease is due to a negative impact of 10.3% due to exchange rate fluctuations. On an organic basis, sales of established pharmaceuticals increased 5.4%.

Sales of medical devices increased 5.5% in the first quarter. This increase stems from solid growth in electrophysiology, heart failure, structural heart disease and diabetes care.

Abbott Laboratories also recorded several significant achievements in the first quarter:

  • United States FDA approval for the extension of MitraClip – a clinical device for the treatment of secondary mitral regurgitation.
  • US FDA Approval for TactiCath Contact Force Ablation Catheter – a device to be used by a physician to help treat atrial fibrillation.
  • Alinity has been awarded CE Mark (European Approval Stamp), allowing laboratories to test infectious diseases at a faster and more accurate pace with this diagnostic system.

Look to the front

Abbott Labs expects earnings per share (EPS) GAAP of between $ 1.95 and $ 2.05. The company also expects its second quarter GAAP GAAP to be between $ 0.47 and $ 0.49.

At Abbott's fourth-quarter teleconference in January, the President and CEO, Miles D. White, was enthusiastic about his company's performance. He said that 2018 "was a great year in every respect." White thinks that 2019 will also be a good year.

In Abbott's press release for the first quarter, he said the company "exactly met our expectations for the start of the year." White added, "All of our key long-term growth drivers are performing well and we are looking forward to another year of strong sales and earnings growth."

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