Abbott Laboratories falls shy of Wall Street estimates in fiscal Q1

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) reported its financial results for the fiscal first quarter on Tuesday that fell shy of the Wall Street estimates, despite its COVID-19 tests continuing to see strong demand in Q1.

Abbott Laboratories shares that you can conveniently trade online via a range of user-friendly apps were reported more than 3% down in premarket trading on Tuesday. Including the price action, the stock is now exchanging hands at £86.25 per share versus a year-to-date high of £91.74 per share in early February. In comparison, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company had started the year 2021 at a lower £78 per share.

Abbott Laboratories’ Q1 financial results versus analysts’ estimates

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Abbott Laboratories reported £1.29 billion of earnings in the first quarter that translates to 72 pence per share. In the same quarter last year, its earnings stood at a sharply lower £389.20 million, or 21.46 pence per share. On an adjusted basis, the Chicago-based firm earned 91 pence per share in the first quarter. In the prior quarter (Q4), Abbott’s earnings were recorded at a higher £1.53 billion.

The American multinational generated £7.44 billion of sales in Q1 versus the year-ago figure of £5.51 billion. According to FactSet, experts had forecast the company to post £7.66 billion of sales in the recent quarter. Their estimate for adjusted per-share earnings stood at a higher 94 pence.

The annualised increase in revenue, as per Abbott Laboratories, was attributed to its COVID-19 tests that generated £1.57 billion of sales in the first quarter, including £1.29 billion from its rapid-testing platforms.

In separate news from the United States, insurance company Travelers Inc also published its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday.

Abbott Laboratories’ guidance for the full financial year

For the full financial year, Abbott now forecasts £3.58 of adjusted per-share earnings. Analysts, on the other hand, are calling for a slightly higher £3.62 instead.

CEO Robert Ford commented on the earnings report on Tuesday and said:

“We’re particularly pleased with the growing momentum of several recently launched products and continue to forecast more than 35 percent EPS growth for the year.”

Abbott Laboratories performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of a little under 30%. At the time of writing, the medical devices and healthcare company has a market cap of £157.83 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 49.46.