Abbott Labs Lowers Guidance

I’m a big fan of Abbott Labs (ABT), the diversified healthcare company. It’s one of those few companies that consistently churns out steadily growing earnings.
Here are the EPS numbers since 2003; $2.05, $2.27, $2.50, $2.53, $2.84, $3.32 and $3.71. That’s what I like to see, steady increase after steady increase. Except for one bum year in 2006 when they only made $2.53 a share, the rest of the earnings increases were in the double digits.
In January, Abbott said to expect earnings for this year to fall between $4.20 and $4.25 a share. This doesn’t include a 28-cent charge for some acquisition costs and other items.
This morning, the company reported Q1 earnings of 81 cents a share compared with 73 cents a share a year ago. That’s about the growth rate we’ve come to expect from ABT. Sales were up 15%.
Like other healthcare companies, Abbott lowered its full-year guidance due to Obamacare. The company now sees full-year earnings-per-share ranging between $4.13 and $4.18 which is just seven cents off each end. The midpoint is still about 12% higher than last year’s earnings.
I really like Abbott but I’d like to see if come down a little bit more (say, below $50) before I’d call it a really good buy.

Posted by on April 21st, 2010 at 10:26 am


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