Abbott Laboratories Shares Fall 3% As Soft Q2 Outlook Offsets Q1 Results

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) reported first-quarter results that met earnings expectations and exceeded revenue forecasts, but shares declined more than 3% in premarket trading Thursday after the company issued weaker-than-expected second-quarter guidance.

The medical device maker posted earnings per share of $1.15, in line with analyst estimates, while revenue totaled $11.16 billion, slightly above the $11 billion consensus. First-quarter sales increased 7.8% on a reported basis and rose 3.7% on a comparable basis.

Looking ahead, Abbott projected second-quarter earnings per share in the range of $1.25 to $1.31, which came in below the analyst consensus of $1.32.

For the full fiscal year, the company guided for EPS between $5.38 and $5.58, compared with the consensus estimate of $5.47. The outlook included an estimated $0.20 dilution impact related to its acquisition of Exact Sciences, which closed on March 23.

Abbott also forecast full-year comparable sales growth of 6.5% to 7.5%.