Wednesday, $Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US)$ reported first-quarter sales of $9.96 billion, up 10.8% on an organic basis for the underlying base business, beating the consensus of $9.88 billion.
Reported sales increased by 2.2%, which includes the anticipated decline in COVID-19 testing-related revenue compared to the previous year.
First-quarter growth was led by Medical Devices (up 14.3% organic; 14.2% reported), with FreeStyle Libre sales growing 23.3% on an organic basis (22.4% reported) to $1.5 billion.
Additional growth came from Established Pharmaceuticals (up 13.7% organic; 3.1% reported), Nutrition (up 7.7% organic; 5.1% reported), and Diagnostics (up 5.4% organic; 2.7% reported).
"Our first-quarter results reflect a strong start to the year, and we are raising our full-year sales and EPS guidance," said Robert Ford, chairman and CEO. "This was the fifth consecutive quarter that we delivered double-digit organic sales growth in our underlying base business, which included particularly strong results in Medical Devices and Established Pharmaceuticals."
Abbott's adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.98, beating the analyst estimates of $0.95.
Guidance: For 2024, Abbott revised its fiscal year 2024 adjusted EPS guidance to $4.55-$4.70 versus the prior guidance of $4.50-$4.70 and consensus of $4.62.
Abbott projects second-quarter adjusted EPS Of $1.08-$1.12 versus the consensus of $1.12.
Price Action: ABT shares are down 0.87% at $108.26 during the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.