Abbott gains as 'strong' performance tops Q3 expectations

investing.com:

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) shares are up more than 2% premarket Wednesday after the company reported earnings, topping consensus expectations.

The medical device company reported Q3 EPS of $1.14, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $1.10, while revenue for the quarter came in at $10.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $9.82B.

ABT's sales performance was driven by a strong underlying base business performance despite the «significantly lower demand for COVID-19 tests.»

Worldwide Nutrition sales increased 15.5%. Pediatric Nutrition sales in the US grew 41.8%, primarily driven by continued market share recovery in the infant formula business after a voluntary recall of certain products last year. Worldwide Medical Devices sales rose by 16.6%.

«The investments we made during the pandemic continue to drive broad-based growth across our underlying base business,» said Robert Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott. «We're on track to deliver on the financial commitments we set at the beginning of the year, and the momentum we're building across the portfolio positions us well as we head into 2024.»

Looking ahead, Abbott sees FY2023 adjusted earnings between $4.42 and $4.46 per share, above the consensus of $4.18, representing an increase at the midpoint of the guidance range.