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Abbott Laboratories (ABT) beat Wall Street’s second-quarter forecast on Thursday, but ABT stock fell as sequential demand for Covid testing plummeted.
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For the second quarter, Abbott reported $ 1.3 billion in global Covid test sales, down about 41% from the first quarter. Excluding Covid test sales, total sales grew 11% organically from pre-pandemic levels, CEO Robert Ford said in a written statement.
Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans noted that demand for Covid testing would remain a wildcard for ABT stocks in the near term.
“We believe that the demand for testing will remain difficult to predict and that fluctuations in demand could impact Abbott’s annual results,” she said in a report to customers. “We believe long-term growth will be driven by innovative new devices for diabetes, cardiac devices and diagnostics.”
In morning stock exchange trading today, ABT stock fell 1.9% to near 116.80.
ABT stock: demand for Covid tests drops
Overall, Abbott reported second quarter revenue of $ 10.2 billion, up 39.5% on a strictly as posted basis. Organic sales jumped 35%. Sales exceeded expectations by $ 9.69 billion.
Adjusted earnings climbed more than 105% to $ 1.17 per share and beat expectations by $ 1.02.
Abbott’s four core segments have grown. Diagnostics led the way with an increase in sales of nearly 63% year-over-year, despite a sequential slowdown in sales of Covid tests. Sales of medical devices also increased by more than 51%. If we compare with the same quarter before the pandemic in 2019, sales of medical devices increased by 19.2% in 2021.
“We are experiencing very strong growth across our portfolio,” said the CEO of Ford. Organic growth compared to the same quarter in 2019 “demonstrates the fundamental strength of our performance”.
For the year, Abbott expects adjusted earnings of $ 4.30 to $ 4.50 per share. ABT stock analysts called for adjusted earnings of $ 4.36 per share and $ 39.39 billion in sales.
Follow Allison Gatlin on Twitter at @IBD_AGatlin.
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