Abbott raises guidance as its 2016 Q1 earnings squeak by the street

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) upped its full-year earnings forecast and saw shares stay stable after releasing 1st quarter 2016 earnings that just slipped past the Street’s estimates

Abbott reported profits of $316 million, or 4¢ per share, on sales of $4.9 billion for the 3 months ended March 31, 2016. That amounts to a significant 86.2% slide on the bottom-line as sales shrunk a much smaller 0.2% compared with the same period last year.

Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 41¢, a small 2¢ above what analysts on Wall Street were looking for. Abbott beat the street’s expectations for revenue by approximately $15 million.

Shares have stayed stable after the release, trading at $43.88 as of 10:02 a.m. EDT.

“We’re off to a good start to the year and are raising our full-year adjusted EPS guidance range. All four of our businesses met or exceeded our growth expectations and underlying demand remains strong,” CEO Miles White said in a press release.

Abbott said it is raising its full-year 2016 guidance range for earnings per share from $2.10-2.20 to $2.14-2.24.

The company said it forecasts net specified items for the full year 2016 at approximately 78¢ per share, with projected earnings per share from continuing operations under GAAP at $1.36 to $1.46.

In February, Abbott said it agreed to put nearly $6 billion on the table for diagnostics giant Alere (NYSE:ALR), saying it aims to become the leading point-of-care testing provider with annual sales of more than $7 billion.

Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott said it agreed to pay $56 per share for Waltham, Mass.-based Alere, marking a roughly 51% premium over the $37.20 Jan. 29 closing price for ALR shares.

Abbott said the deal for the former Inverness Medical business will immediately add to earnings, with boosts of 12¢ to 13¢ in 2017 and more than 20¢ in 2018. The agreement calls for Abbott to take on some $2.6 million in Alere debt.

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