Abbott Lab's first-quarter sales beat expectations

Abbott Laboratories Inc reported first-quarter sales ahead of Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, on double digit growth of its Freestyle Libre glucose monitoring device and as more of its heart valves were used in surgical procedures.

"The decisions we made three, five, seven years ago - and the ones we're making today - are driving positive long-term outlooks for all of our businesses," said Chief Executive Officer Miles White.

The company, whose products range from medical devices to infant nutritional formula, posted net earnings of $672 million, or 38 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $418 million, or 23 cents per share.

Net sales rose to $7.54 billion from $7.39 billion. Analysts had expected $7.47 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.