Abbott Labs sales boosted by double-digit medical devices growth

Sales growth in the medical devices segment drove Abbott Laboratories’ expectations-beating revenue in the past financial quarter as the company faces lower demand for COVID-19 tests, it reported Wednesday.

The Illinois-based maker of medical devices, nutrition products and diagnostic tools reported sales of roughly $10.6 billion for the quarter ending Sept. 30, above the expectations of Wall Street analysts polled by Yahoo Finance.

Abbott, which has electrophysiology and cardiovascular operations in Minnesota with a workforce of roughly 5,000, reported that its medical devices sales grew organically by 13.3% since the same quarter a year prior. The company saw double-digit sales growth in catheters and cardiac-mapping products, CEO Robert Ford said.

Ford said he’s bullish about the company’s continuous glucose monitor unit, which grew by 21% for the quarter.

In August, Abbott announced a partnership with Medtronic to make a continuous glucose monitor tracking a patient’s blood sugar levels that will exclusively work with Medtronic’s proprietary insulin pumps. The monitor tracks a patient’s blood sugar level, which tells the pump how much insulin is needed to regulate the patient’s blood sugar.

“Abbott now has partnerships with five of the largest companies that offer automated insulin dosing pumps, allowing more people around the world to benefit from the connectivity with the Libre technology,” Ford said in a call with investors.

Abbott also recently announced the U.S. launch of Lingo, an over-the-counter biosensor that tracks real-time glucose data and provides personalized coaching based on its users’ reaction to nutrition and exercise, Ford said. The company is targeting users who don’t use insulin and who want to know about their blood sugar level.

COVID-19 test sales dropped to $265 million for the quarter, down from $305 million in the third quarter of 2023, the company reported. Excluding these sales, Abbott expects revenue to grow between 9.5% and 10% for the full financial year on an organic basis.

Ford said he expects the company’s earnings to shift back to pre-pandemic double-digit growth as COVID-19 test sales continue to decline. Abbott expenses have dropped by 3 percentage points since 2019, he said.

“We’ve done increased investment in areas that are, we know, high growth areas,” Ford said, “And we’ve still been able to generate over a billion dollars of spending leverage over the last five years.”

Abbott raised the midpoint of its full-year profit guidance, which ranges from $3.34 to $3.40 diluted earnings per share after reporting a profit of 94 cents per share on Wednesday.

“We achieved several new product pipeline milestones this quarter,” Ford said, “and we’re well positioned for a strong finish to the year and have great momentum heading into 2025.”