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Key Takeaways
- Abbott Laboratories shares surged Wednesday after the company reported first-quarter earnings that topped analysts' estimates.
- The medical device manufacturer also announced that it plans to invest $500,000,000 in Illinois and Texas-based operations set to open this.
- The stock’s value has increased by about a quarter in the past year.
Abbott Laboratories shares (ABT), which are owned by Abbott, surged after the company announced plans to invest $500m in U.S. operations. The company also exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for its first-quarter earnings.
The company said Wednesday that two new manufacturing and R&D facilities in Texas and Illinois are set to open this year. Abbott plans to hire up 200 people for the projects in Illinois and Texas, a spokesperson told reporters.
Shares of Abbott were up close to 4% in recent trading, making the stock one of the S&P 500’s top daily performers. They have gained about a quarter of their value in the past year.
Visible Alpha analyst consensus is that Abbott’s revenue for the first quarter was $10.4 Billion, an increase of 4% over last year. The adjusted net profit of $1.92 billion or $1.09 per diluted share was higher than Wall Street expectations. Medical device sales rose 10% to $4.9billion, also beating expectations.
Abbott has maintained its adjusted earnings per share (EPS), which is expected to be between $5.05 and $5.25 for the full year, compared to the analyst consensus estimate of $5.16. According to a transcript provided by AlphaSense, Abbott Labs CEO Robert Ford stated that Abbott Labs considered raising its EPS forecast prior to the Trump Administration’s recent tariff announcements.
