Abbott rises as Q3 profit beats estimates

Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition

18/10/2023 16:21

(.)
    ** Shares of medical device maker Abbott Laboratories
 ABT.N  rise 3.3% to $95.2 
    ** ABT tightened its FY23 profit forecast after beating Q3
earnings estimates due to strong demand for medical devices and
diagnostics products 
    ** Co also said that the market is overestimating hit from
weight-loss drugs to the sales of its glucose monitoring
products
        ** ABT's shares have dropped 16% this year, mainly on
concerns that new diabetes drugs such as Novo Nordisk's
 NOVOb.CO  Ozempic and Eli Lilly's  LLY.N  Mounjaro could eat
into sales of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices
  
        ** ABT added that fresh treatments could end up boosting
sales at its diabetes and nutrition businesses 
  
        ** FreeStyle Libre, co's CGM device, recorded Q3 sales
at about $1.4 bln, up 30.5%; accounting for nearly 14% of the
company's revenue 
  
    ** ABT now expects FY adj. EPS of $4.42-$4.46, vs previous
forecast of $4.30-$4.50
    ** Excluding items, ABT earned $1.14/share, above analysts'
estimates of $1.10/share, as per LSEG data
    ** Including session's gain, ABT down 13.3% YTD

 (Reporting by Pratik Jain and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru)
 ((Pratik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com;))