Abbott Laboratories’ quarterly results showed growth across medical devices for heart disease and diabetes, a relief for investors who feared popular drugs such as Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic would be bad for business.
(Bloomberg) — Abbott Laboratories’ quarterly results showed growth across medical devices for heart disease and diabetes, a relief for investors who feared popular drugs such as Novo Nordisk A/S’s Ozempic would be bad for business.
Revenue in the third quarter was $10.1 billion, beating analysts’ average estimate of $9.8 billion. Adjusted profit was $1.14 a share, 4 cents above Wall Street’s expectation.
Some analysts have suggested that Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications used to treat diabetes and obesity will cut the need for medical devices like Abbott’s glucose monitors. The company’s latest results show sales of its glucose monitors are actually going up, along with other businesses including nutrition and established pharmaceuticals.
“Organic revenue growth of 13.8%, with double-digit growth across all segments, points to business as usual,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Henriksson said in an email.
Abbott also lifted the midpoint of its profit forecast. Adjusted earnings for the year are now expected to be in the range of $4.42 to $4.46 a share, Abbott said Wednesday in a statement, compared with a prior range of $4.30 to $4.50. The new midpoint at $4.44 is five cents higher than analysts had projected.
Read More: A Stock Investor’s Guide to Navigating Weight Loss Opportunities
Abbott shares rose 1.1% at 9:38 a.m. in New York. They had lost 16% this year through Tuesday’s close.
The company contends that drugs like Ozempic could expand use of continuous-glucose monitors as doctors pair the two for diabetes management and patients look for tools to support healthy lifestyles. WW International Inc. has been using the Abbott system to better monitor blood sugar in members with diabetes. Abbott is also developing a new line of wearable devices called Lingo that use similar technology.
(Updates with analyst’s comment in fourth paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.