Abbott bumps up profit forecast on strong medical device sales

By Leroy Leo and Christy Santhosh

Bengaluru: Abbott Laboratories slightly lifted its annual profit forecast on Wednesday, after beating Wall Street estimates for quarterly earnings on strong demand for its continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and other medical devices.

Shares of Abbott rose 2% in afternoon trade.

Increasing diabetes care awareness, wider insurance coverage and preference for devices that do not need finger pricks have benefited CGMs such as Abbott's popular FreeStyle Libre. The company's CGM sales, which include newly launched over-the-counter device Lingo, rose nearly 21% organically to more than $1.6 billion.

The company's medical devices unit generated $4.75 billion in sales for the third quarter, above analysts' average estimate of $4.68 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Overall, Abbott recorded $10.64 billion in sales, compared with estimates of $10.55 billion.

"I think this continues to be a company that is going to grow high single digit very comfortably in 2025 and beyond," RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh said.

Its diagnostics and established pharmaceuticals segments also trumped sales estimates, but the nutrition business fell short.

The pediatric nutrition business is under the scanner over lawsuits alleging its specialized formula for premature infants caused babies to develop a dangerous bowel disease called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

The Food and Drug Administration and two other U.S. agencies, however, backed the products in a joint statement earlier this month. CEO Robert Ford said on Wednesday the judge in a trial had not allowed the statement to be entered as evidence.

"Ultimately, the regulator decides if the products are safe and they're fit for purpose, and they decide how they got to be labeled," Ford said.

The Lake County, Illinois-based company now expects annual profit of $4.64 to $4.70 per share, with the midpoint a tad higher than its earlier forecast of $4.61 to $4.71.

On an adjusted basis, its quarterly profit of $1.21 per share beat estimates of $1.20.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)