Abbott Laboratories' strong medical equipment sales "difficult to sustain", Q1 profits guidance below expectations.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT.US) on Wednesday announced that its first-quarter profit outlook was below Wall Street expectations, and weak sales in businesses other than medical devices in the fourth quarter led to a drop of over 2% in its stock price in pre-market trading. Data shows that the company's Q4 revenue increased by 7.2% year-on-year, reaching $10.97 billion, but below the analyst average expectation of $11.01 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.34, in line with analysts' average expectations. In the fourth quarter, the company's medical devices division saw sales of $5.052 billion, a 13.7% year-on-year increase, exceeding analyst expectations. Sales of continuous glucose monitors from competitors like Abbott Laboratories' FreeStyle Libre and DexCom, Inc. (DXCM.US) were boosted due to increased awareness of diabetes care, expansion of insurance coverage, and preference for non-invasive devices. Abbott Laboratories' continuous glucose monitors are a key growth driver for 2024 and are expected to continue driving sales growth in the future. However, sales in its nutrition, diagnostics, and generics divisions were below expectations. Abbott Laboratories stated that excluding sales related to COVID-19 testing, revenue grew by approximately 10%. Looking ahead, the company forecasts adjusted earnings per share of $1.05 to $1.09 for the first quarter, below the analyst average expectation of $1.11. Adjusted earnings per share for 2025 are forecasted to be $5.05 to $5.25, while analysts' average expectation is $5.16.