Business sale helps Abbott 1Q earnings soar, top forecasts
Abbott Laboratories' first-quarter earnings climbed versus a year ago as the drugmaker booked a $1.74 billion, after-tax gain from a sale of large parts of its business.
Its adjusted earnings topped Wall Street estimates and shares of the Libertyville Township-based company edged up in morning trading Wednesday.
During the quarter, Abbott completed the sale of its branded generics pharmaceuticals business in developed markets to Mylan and the sale of its animal health business to Zoetis. The company's established pharmaceuticals business now focuses on emerging markets like India, Russia, China and Brazil.
Abbott also makes infant formula and medical devices.
Overall, the company earned $2.29 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the three months that ended March 31, up sharply from $151 million, or 24 cents per share, in the previous year's quarter.
Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations, came to 47 cents per share in the most recent quarter. That exceeded expectations on Wall Street, where analysts forecast, on average, earnings of 42 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue grew 3 percent to $4.9 billion, which surpassed Street forecasts for $4.86 billion
The company also reaffirmed its forecast for full-year earnings in the range of $2.10 to $2.20 per share.
Analysts forecast, on average, $2.14 per share, according to FactSet.
Shares of Abbott rose 49 cents to $47.61 in morning trading Wednesday. Abbott shares have increased roughly 5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased almost 2 percent. The stock has increased 22 percent in the last 12 months.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ABT at http://www.zacks.com/ap/ABT