Abbott (NYSE:ABT) beat expectations on Wall Street today with its 3rd-quarter earnings, despite putting red ink in the ledger thanks to its 13% stake in beleaguered pharma giant Mylan (NSDQ:MYL).
The Chicago-area healthcare giant posted losses of -$329 million, or -22¢ per share, on sales of $5.30 billion for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for a top-line gain of 3.0% compared with Q3 2015.
But that includes a $947 million hit that took 66¢ off of earnings per share after Abbott adjusted the value of its Mylan holdings to reflect the stock’s -10% September slide. Adjusted to exclude that and other 1-time items, profits were $883 million or 59¢ per share, a penny ahead of The Street. Analysts there were looking for sales of $5.29 billion.
“Strong performance in established pharmaceuticals and medical devices led our sales growth this quarter,” chairman & CEO Miles White said in prepared remarks. “We’re on track to deliver the financial commitments we set at the beginning of the year. We also had several key product launches and continued to take strategic actions to shape our business for long-term growth.”
Abbott narrowed its earnings outlook this year, saying it now expects to log adjusted EPS of $2.19 to $2.21, raising the low end but cutting the high end compared with prior guidance of $2.14 to $2.24.
Sales for the company’s medical devices segment rose 6.4% to $1.31 billion, with vascular sales rising 5.2% to $708 million. Diabetes sales rose 11.5% to $306 million, while its soon-to-be-sold medical optics business logged sales growth of 4.4% to $296 million.
ABT shares were down -2.6% to $40.11 apiece today in late-morning trading.
