Abbott Labs Lowers Guidance

Abbott Labs (ABT) had bad news this morning. The company had to lower its guidance due to “significantly lower” demand for Covid testing.

This has been driven by several factors, including significant reductions in cases in the U.S. and other major developed countries, accelerated rollout of COVID-19 vaccines globally and, most recently, U.S. health authority guidance on testing for fully vaccinated individuals.

Abbott now sees earnings this year of $4.30 to $4.50 per share. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $5.04 per share. Previously, Abbott said it expected earnings of at least $5 per share.

“We’ve recently seen a rapid decline in COVID-19 testing demand and anticipate this trend will continue, which led us to adjust our full-year guidance,” said Robert B. Ford, president and chief executive officer, Abbott. “At the same time, excluding COVID-19 tests, our organic base business growth is accelerating, we continue to see improving end-markets and our new product pipeline continues to be highly productive.”

Posted by on June 1st, 2021 at 10:07 am


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