Abbott’s Q4 sales miss the mark

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) missed expectations with its 4th-quarter sales but met Wall Street’s consensus forecast for earnings, sending shares down a tick in pre-market trading today.

In its 1st quarterly results since closing the $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical, the Chicago-area healthcare giant posted profits of $798 million, or 53¢ per share, on sales of $5.33 billion for the 3 months ended Dec. 31, 2016. That’s a 4.0% bottom-line gain on sales growth of 2.8% compared with Q4 2015.

Adjusted to exclude 1-time items, earnings per share were 65¢, exactly in line with expectations on The Street, where analysts were looking for sales of $5.38 billion.

For the full year, profits were down -68.3% to $1.40 billion, or 94¢ per share, on sales growth of 2.2% to $20.85 billion. Adjusted EPS were $2.20, 26¢ off the mark on The Street; analysts were looking for sales of $26.43 billion.

“2016 was a very important year for Abbott,” chairman & CEO Miles White said in prepared remarks. “We achieved our financial commitments, advanced our internal pipeline, and took important strategic steps to shape the company for balance and growth.”

Abbott said it expects to post adjusted EPS of $2.40 to $2.50 this year; 1st-quarter adjusted EPS are pegged at 42¢ to 44¢.

ABT shares were down -0.9% to $39.96 apiece today in pre-market trading.

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