Abbott Labs stock falls after profit matches expectations, sales comes up a bit shy

Shares of Abbott Laboratories fell 2.7% in premarket trading Wednesday, after medical device, diagnostics and drug maker reported a third-quarter profit that was in line with expectations, while sales came up a bit shy. Net income rose to $960 million, or 53 cents a share, from $563 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share grew to 84 cents from 75 cents, matching the FactSet consensus of 84 cents. Sales increased 5.5% to $8.08 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $8.11 billion. Within Abbott's business segments, revenue for medical devices was slightly above expectations, while nutrition, diagnostics and established pharmaceuticals was slightly below. Looking ahead, Abbott expects fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of 94 cents to 96 cents, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 95 cents, and narrowed its 2019 guidance range to $3.23 to $3.25 from $3.21 to $3.27. The stock has gained 13.3% year to date through Tuesday, while the SPDR Health Care Select Sector ETF has advanced 5.8% and the S&P 500 has climbed 19.5%.

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