Abbott tops 4Q profit forecasts, falls short on revenue

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. (AP) - Abbott Laboratories shares fell slightly after it reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, but fell short of revenue projections due to slower sales of nutritional products and a strong dollar.

The company said sales of nutritional products fell 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year and were down more than 1 percent year-over-year. The company said a strong U.S. dollar accounted for more than 1 percent of the decline last quarter.

Abbott's fourth-quarter earnings of $798 million beat Street expectations, but revenue of $5.33 billion in the period fell short of forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.36 billion. Abbott reported revenue of $5.18 billion and earnings of $767 million for the same period last year.

The Abbott Park, Illinois-based company said it had net income of 53 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 65 cents per share, slightly better than the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research of 64 cents per share. Abbott earned 62 cents per share on an adjusted basis for the same period last year.

For the full year, the company earned $1.4 billion, or 94 cents per share, down from $4.42 billion, or $2.92 per share Revenue rose to $20.85 billion from $20.41 billion in 2015.

For the current quarter ending in April, Abbott expects its per-share earnings to range from 42 cents to 44 cents. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of 49 cents per share.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.40 to $2.50 per share, in line with analysts' expectations.

Abbott shares fell about 1 percent in morning trading, to $40, about the same as they were 12 months ago.

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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 https://www.zacks.com/ap/ABT

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Keywords: Abbott, Earnings Report