Why Abbott Laboratories Stock Was a Winner on Wednesday

Investors happily greeted the latest news from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) on Hump Day. After the storied healthcare company unveiled its third-quarter results, those folks traded its stock up by 1.5%. That was good enough to edge past the S&P 500 index's 0.5% gain.

A pair of modest beats

For the quarter, Abbott's revenue totaled just under $10.64 billion, for year-over-year growth of almost 5%. Non-GAAP (adjusted) net income ticked up at a slightly higher rate, advancing by 6% to $2.12 billion ($1.21 per share).

Both headline fundamentals beat the consensus analyst estimates, but hardly by a wide margin. Prognosticators tracking Abbott stock were modeling revenue of $10.56 billion and adjusted per-share net income of $1.20.

Much of the company's top-line growth was due to its medical devices segment, happily by far the largest of its four reporting units. Medical devices brought in nearly $4.75 billion during the quarter, bettering the year-ago period's take by 14%. The smaller nutrition segment also did well, with a 10% increase to almost $2.1 billion.

Management signaled confidence with guidance

In the earnings release, Abbott quoted CEO Robert Ford as saying that on the back of that performance "We're well positioned to achieve the upper end of our initial guidance ranges for the year and have great momentum heading into next year."

Putting its money where its mouth is, management increased the midpoint of its adjusted earnings guidance for full-year 2024; the range now stands at $4.64 to $4.70 per share. It also believes its revenue will rise from 9.5% to 10% over the 2023 result.

Should you invest $1,000 in Abbott Laboratories right now?

Before you buy stock in Abbott Laboratories, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Abbott Laboratories wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $806,459!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of October 14, 2024

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Abbott Laboratories. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.